Tallgrass

I just finished reading Tallgrass. Sandra Dallas does it again! I truly enjoy her writing. This story is full of love, kindness, compassion as well as evil and hurt; and Sandra knows just how to share it. This is another of her enjoyable reads. Thank you for sharing with us all.

Set in Colorado during World War II when the government was setting up interment camps for American Japanese, fearing they would sabotage the war efforts. Tallgrass is the story of Rennie Stroud, who is 13 when a camp is set up near her farm. Several young men from the camp are hired by her father to work on their beet farm and they also hire a girl as household help, so Rennie gets to know them and finds them no different from other people. But there is a great deal of prejudice in the community against the Japanese, and when a young girl is murdered, the Japanese are blamed. This is a story for upper middle grade to adult and should be in all school libraries. Eunice Boeve author of Maggie Rose and Sass

After the surprise attack of Pearl Harbor during WWII, President Roosevelt signed an act that forced Japanese American's to be relocated to interment camps. One such camp, built on beet field land in Colorado, brought much change to the small town of Ellis. Rennie, 13, and her family of 5 own the beet farm close to the camp and through this innocent, yet wise little girl we learn the perils of such a blatant act of prejudice. Rennie and her family find the Japanese American's to be good people, thus hiring them for farming and help within their home to the chagrin and chastising of many residents of Ellis. Much upheaval brews, including the rape and sodomy of a Susan Riddick, a young friend of Rennie's. Enraged that something this heinous hadn't happened in their little town before the "Japs" came, many Ellis residents blame the Japanese American internees. There in lies a mystery entwined into a book about people unnerved by change and riled by ignorance. Sandra Dallas's characters are always "everyday" folk. Their wisdom comes from the college of hard knocks and how they learn is determined by their ability to process life as a burden or a gift. Adding a mystery to her plots keeps the reader engrossed, unsettled, angered and ultimately richer in knowledge. That is what a great book is suppose to do and Sandra Dallas delivers with a one-two punch. I highly recommend this lovely book

I loved the simplistic writing style of this book. The story is heart-warming and a couple of surprises as well. This was my first book from this author and I have ordered two more. I look forward to more Sandra Dallas.

This story, told through the eyes of a 13 year old girl caught my full attention from the first paragraph and never disappointed me throughout the entire story. When I picked up the book to read a new chapter I was immediately transported back to WW II Colorado (and America) and felt the characters were people I knew. This was a book that I did not want to end but, alas, it had to. I have read most of Ms. Dallas' other works and consider her a favorite author of mine because she develops her characters with such depth that one really feels they know them. Keep up the good work and I would not be at all surprised if this book was made into a movie.