The books is a great book to teach the drought and dust bowl with. It shows the struggles an African American family goes through and at the end of the book is an information page that includes facts and information on the dust bowl.

Genre: realistic fiction
Media: Water color
Age Appropriateness: elementary
Plot: people against nature
Characterization: Drylongso is a round and static character. He suddenly becomes part of this family because of a dust storm. We find out about his family and how they are farmers and work their fields. We also find out that he can use a dowsing rod. He is able to help the family start their farm and find water. However, he is a constant and unchanging character. We never see him develop in the story because he leaves to find his family after he helps them.
Review: This is a good example of realistic fiction. Droughts are very real instances and the dust bowl is a very difficult place to live in during a drought. However, there is not evidence that this family every existed, but their struggle was the reality of many families during the drought of the 1970's.