Dear America: Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift

This book is the first one that I read since my 8TH-grade year which is now over 5 years ago. I'm so happy that I've decided to read more books in the Dear America book series starting with this one. I love it! Minnie Swift really explains her family's hard troubles and struggles of keeping the Christmas spirit up in the air while living the last years of the Great Depression. I'm a fan of Willie Faye Darling because she got a heart to remember. I'm also happy that Winnie got to fly a plane just like her hero, Amelia Earhart in the aftermath. I totally recommend getting this book and reading it around the holidays. <3

Anyone who has ever been a young girl can relate and enjoy this story. I have shared it with other adult women, and even my husband ! It is funny, sad, heartwarming, and informative. Kathryn Lasky is a great story teller !

This is a great book. There are lots of funny twists to it. Like, for example, their servant, Jackie, goes to lots of funerals and takes pictures of the bodies in the caskets to show everybody back home. Another funny twist is when a chicken they bought from some friends gets frozen to the trash can and the parents pour ale over it to get the ice to melt. The chicken has one leg that turns black and falls off, and hopped around on one leg, falling face-down wherever it hopped, so Jackie killed it for dinner. The best part is that my town, Greenfield, is a suburb of Indianapolis!

"Christmas After All: The Great Depression Diary of Minnie Swift, Indianapolis, Indiana, 1932" was a very good book and showed how the era of The Great Depression affected America's lifestyle. This book is very heartwarming and really shows how lucky we are to be living in this era, but also showed how family life has changed over the years. Although at times this story was sad, the ending will lift your spirits. The epilogue is one of the better one's I've read and the Historical Note is very educational. I also thought it was very wise how Lasky pointed out how she mentioned some events that did not occur during the year 1932, but put them in the story to make the plot thicker. I recommend.

It's late November, 1932, and the entire nation is feeling the effects of the Great Depression. Christmas is nearing, but for many families, it will be a joyless holiday. Eleven-year-old Minnie Swift fears that will be the case for her family. Although her father still has a job, he hasn't been making much money. Life changes for the whole family, however, when Minnie's orphaned cousin, Willie Faye, comes to live with the family. Eleven-year-old Willie Faye is the same age as Minnie, but she is very different. Having grown up in the dust bowl of Texas, she's had an even harder life than Minnie. Minnie and her older sisters, and even her pesky younger brother, welcome Willie Faye into their family. But when her father loses his job, Minnie fears that her family will soon be joining the homeless. This wonderful new Dear America book, told through Minnie's diary entries over the month from Thanksgiving to Christmas, showed how the love in a family could help make the worst of times bearable. All fans of the series will want to read this book.