You think your life is tough?  For millions of families, survival during the Great Depression was day-to-day.  Truck drivers, if they could find work, might earn fifty cents an hour.  Some coal miners were paid only a dollar a day, and barbers often earned only twenty-five cents for a haircut.  Women did domestic work (if they could find it) for twenty cents an hour and clerked in stores for about fifteen dollars a week.  Earnings for kids in a variety of jobs could be measured in pennies per hour.  In those times not even a "lost" penny was left lying on a sidewalk.

   With the outbreak of World War II, millions of younger men and older teenage boys, whose early lives had endured the Great Depression, then filled the ranks of our armed forces.  Thousands of young women also volunteered for military service.  Meanwhile, jobs left vacant by those serving in the military were filled by men, women, teenagers, and younger children serving on the home front. Yet, the primary concern of those still in civilian life was no longer about finding work, but instead worrying about the safety of their loved ones fighting in the war and their returning home to a life of peace and fulfillment of dreams long delayed.

  The late Dr. Les Simonson, author of the WIN Writing Program, wrote this as a semi auto-biography of his life.  It's a great look back to an earlier America and the struggles our grandparents and great-grandparents went through.  We highly recommend this book as a companion to your child's history studies, and you might just enjoy it yourself!

BK-LSTT  -  $5.25