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Apr 11, 2021_Mirelda_ rated this title 4 out of 5 stars
The Four Winds is the story of Elsa Martinelli, a farmer and mother who survives unimaginable hardships during the dust bowl era. Crops died and families were hungry. The dust was so thick that people wore gas masks, and many suffered or died from dust pneumonia. Elsa and her family face the choice that many families faced in that time: Would they stay with the family land and tough it out, or would they give up everything to start over out West? This is not a happy book. It’s gritty. People and animals suffer. For many people, the dust bowl meant the loss of family, home, security, and their American dream. Landowners became migrant farmers, vulnerable to wealthy men who sought to exploit them for cheap labor. There is hope in this book, though, and it’s empowering to remember what our foremothers were able to overcome. We’re made of the same strong stuff, and we carry their stories, onward and upward.