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Overview
Teenager Moss Trawnley is in desperate need of work, and so he decides to head out west as a member of Roosevelt’s Civilian Conservation Corps to help protect Montana’s wildlife from devastating erosion and wildfires. Despite the grueling work, Moss has time to play baseball, make lifelong friends, and rediscover what he almost lost in the Great Depression: himself. Bringing an important era of U.S. history to life, this riveting coming-of-age story will appeal to any teen who has dreamed of adventure and survival in the great outdoors. Includes a reader's guide.
To help his family during the Depression and avoid becoming a drunk like his father, Moss Trawnley joins the Civilian Conservation Corps, helps build a new camp near Monroe, Montana, and leads the other men in making the camp a success.
Synopsis
Moss doesn't have a job, an education, or much in the way of purpose until he lies about his age and joins Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps.
Barbara Johnston - VOYA
During the Great Depression, seventeen-year-old Moss Trawnley is his family's sole breadwinner. When he gets fired, he "rides the rails" in search of his father. Both land in jail and the justice of the peace urges Moss to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to acquire job skills. Moss enrolls, and although the conditioning is grueling and the discipline strict, he perseveres. After basic training, Moss and his buddies begin building a camp in Montana that will focus on restoring depleted farmland. They work feverishly to complete construction, and Moss's leadership earns him a promotion, much to the dismay of Bill Compton, his junior leader. When spring arrives, the CCC deepens a pond and creates a spillway to control erosion. But heavy rains fill up the reservoir and chunks of concrete break loose. Only extraordinary efforts by the CCC prevent a disaster. His relationship with girlfriend Beatty finally on solid ground, Moss re-enlists for another hitch. Although Ingold's book provides a detailed depiction of President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps, it lacks dramatic tension. The conflict between Moss and Compton is an aside to the fleshed-out descriptions of CCC activities and conservation projects. The characters are one-dimensional, and even Moss is somewhat lackluster. His tentative relationship with Beatty adds no romantic sparks either. As a historical documentary story, however, the book gives vivid snapshots of the Great Depression and earns a spot in a school's media center. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P M J (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9).2005, Harcourt, 288p., $17. Ages 11 to 15.
Editorials
From the Publisher
"Compelling . . . A good read from a masterful storyteller."—School Library Journal "Readers will readily be caught up in the camp's trials and successes through to the dramatic ending . . . Wholly appealing."—The BulletinVOYA
During the Great Depression, seventeen-year-old Moss Trawnley is his family's sole breadwinner. When he gets fired, he "rides the rails" in search of his father. Both land in jail and the justice of the peace urges Moss to join the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) to acquire job skills. Moss enrolls, and although the conditioning is grueling and the discipline strict, he perseveres. After basic training, Moss and his buddies begin building a camp in Montana that will focus on restoring depleted farmland. They work feverishly to complete construction, and Moss's leadership earns him a promotion, much to the dismay of Bill Compton, his junior leader. When spring arrives, the CCC deepens a pond and creates a spillway to control erosion. But heavy rains fill up the reservoir and chunks of concrete break loose. Only extraordinary efforts by the CCC prevent a disaster. His relationship with girlfriend Beatty finally on solid ground, Moss re-enlists for another hitch. Although Ingold's book provides a detailed depiction of President Roosevelt's Civilian Conservation Corps, it lacks dramatic tension. The conflict between Moss and Compton is an aside to the fleshed-out descriptions of CCC activities and conservation projects. The characters are one-dimensional, and even Moss is somewhat lackluster. His tentative relationship with Beatty adds no romantic sparks either. As a historical documentary story, however, the book gives vivid snapshots of the Great Depression and earns a spot in a school's media center. VOYA CODES: 3Q 2P M J (Readable without serious defects; For the YA with a special interest in the subject; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9).2005, Harcourt, 288p., $17. Ages 11 to 15.—Barbara Johnston
KLIATT
To quote the review of the hardcover in KLIATT, May 2005: When Moss Trawnley, age 17, loses his job at an airfield in Texas in the depths of the Depression, he heads out to Montana to try to find his father and make sure he gets money to their family back in Louisiana. But Moss's father is an unemployed drunk, he discovers, and so Moss ends up signing up for a hitch with the Civilian Conservation Corps in Montana so that he at least can have a roof over his head and send some money home to Ma. Set up by President Roosevelt, the CCC took on conservation projects across the US, planting trees and helping to restore depleted farmland--but first Moss and the other young men must build a camp, and learn to work together. Moss makes new friends (including an attractive girl), becomes a leader at the camp, and learns what hard work and teamwork can accomplish, despite some stumbling blocks along the way. Set in 1936, this tale features some of the characters from Ingold's Airfield, though it can stand alone. As with the author's other historical fiction (The Big Burn and Pictures, 1918), it is carefully researched and features sympathetic young protagonists. Ingold does a good job of making the time and place come to life and she shines a light on a little-known aspect of the Depression. KLIATT Codes: JS--Recommended for junior and senior high school students. 2005, Harcourt, 274p. bibliog., $6.95.. Ages 12 to 18.—Paula Rohrlick