Search This Blog







2025 Cover Lovers Reading Challenge (hosted by Yours Truly)

2025 Literary Escapes Challenge
- Alabama
- Alaska
- Arizona (1)
- Arkansas
- California (5)
- Colorado (3)
- Connecticut
- Delaware (1)
- Florida (1)
- Georgia (1)
- Hawaii (1)
- Idaho
- Illinois (1)
- Indiana (1)
- Iowa (3)
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Louisiana
- Maine (2)
- Maryland
- Massachusetts (1)
- Michigan (2)
- Minnesota (2)
- Mississippi (1)
- Missouri
- Montana (1)
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New Hampshire
- New Jersey (1)
- New Mexico
- New York (7)
- North Carolina (3)
- North Dakota (1)
- Ohio (1)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oregon (2)
- Pennsylvania (1)
- Rhode Island (1)
- South Carolina (1)
- South Dakota
- Tennessee (1)
- Texas (1)
- Utah (1)
- Vermont (3)
- Virginia (2)
- Washington (3)
- West Virginia
- Wisconsin (1)
- Wyoming (1)
- Washington, D.C.* (1)
International:
- Australia (3)
- Canada (3)
- England (14)
- France (2)
- Italy (1)
- Japan (1)
- Norway (1)
- Puerto Rico (1)
- Scotland (1)


2025 POPSUGAR Reading Challenge



2025 Build Your Library Reading Challenge









Saturday, December 03, 2016
Searing, Plotless I Will Send Rain a Devastating, Depressing Read
7:40 AM
(Image from Barnes & Noble)
For 19 years, Annie Bell has lived on a farm in the Oklahoma Panhandle with her husband and children. Of a practical nature, she does what needs to be done. Foolish notions—like abandoning their failing farm—have no place inside her head. Instead, she must do what she always does: keep going. This is becoming increasingly difficult as drought cracks the earth beneath her feet, the farm disintegrates before her eyes, and worry for her starving children and fanatical husband worry her heart. Annie's neighbors are deserting Mulehead in droves. Should the Bells follow?
As dust storms continue to swirl around the Bells, each member of the family—rational Annie, visionary Samuel, restless Birdie, and sickly Fred—will have his/her own challenges to face. With drought strangling their hope, it will take every ounce of determination they possess just to survive. In a bleak, devastating time and place, what will happen to one ordinary Dust Bowl family?
A "cheery Dust Bowl story" is an oxymoron, of course, but I Will Send Rain by Rae Meadows was even more depressing than I thought it would be. The setting is so vivid that the reader can feel the characters' heartbreaking despair as well as their desperate hope. Plot wise, the story doesn't go much of anywhere, making the tale seem extra long and dull. That, along with its bleak, unflinching tone made this novel a difficult read for me. I cared about the characters, but the book was so sad and depressing that I couldn't wait to finish it.
(Readalikes: Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck)
Grade:
If this were a movie, it would be rated:
for language (a few F-bombs, plus milder expletives), sexual content, blood/gore, and disturbing subject matter
To the FTC, with love: Another library fine find
3 comments:
Comments make me feel special, so go crazy! Just keep it clean and civil. Feel free to speak your mind (I always do), but be aware that I will delete any offensive comments.
P.S.: Don't panic if your comment doesn't show up right away. I have to approve each one before it posts to prevent spam. It's annoying, but it works!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments
(Atom)


Reading
Rabbit Rabbit by Dori Hillestad Butler and Sunshine Bacon

Listening
The Morning House by Maureen Johnson


Followin' with Bloglovin'

-
Stacking The Shelves1 hour ago
-
Written Out by Howard Mittelmark2 hours ago
-
Week in Review #272 hours ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
-
Review: Persuasion by Jane Austen11 hours ago
-
-
-
-
Coraline by Neil Gaiman22 hours ago
-
Audiobook: Wild and Wrangled1 day ago
-
-
-
-
-
-
Onyx Storm By Rebecca Yarros3 days ago
-
-
Clean teen books for Summer3 days ago
-
Books read in June4 days ago
-
-
-
-
No Roundup this month2 months ago
-
-
Sunday Post #5682 months ago
-
-
February 2025 Reading Wrap Up3 months ago
-
One Big Happy Family by Susan Mallery4 months ago
-
-
-
I'm Still Reading - This Was My October7 months ago
-
Review: The Duke and I10 months ago
-
Girl Plus Books: On Hiatus11 months ago
-
-
-
What Happened to Summer?1 year ago
-
6/25/23 Extra Ezra2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
Are you looking for Pretty Books?2 years ago
-
-
-
-
-
-

Grab my Button!


Blog Archive
- ► 2021 (159)
- ► 2020 (205)
- ► 2019 (197)
- ► 2018 (223)
- ► 2017 (157)
- ▼ 2016 (157)
- ► 2015 (188)
- ► 2014 (133)
- ► 2013 (183)
- ► 2012 (193)
- ► 2011 (232)
- ► 2010 (257)
- ► 2009 (211)
- ► 2008 (192)


2025 Goodreads Reading Challenge
2024 - Elementary/Middle Grade Nonfiction
2023 - Middle Grade Fiction
2022 - Middle Grade Fiction
2021 - Middle Grade Fiction

2020 - Middle Grade Fiction

Okay, I think I'm skipping this one. I don't need more sad and depressing in my life. It's too bad the author didn't give her characters even a little bit of hope to redeem the bleakness.
ReplyDeleteUgh! Totally don't need this in my life right now. I'll pass.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely skipping this one. Although Dust Bowl books in general aren't usually my favorite, this one sounds particularly dull.
ReplyDelete