Farm Girl

by Karen Jones Gowen and Dashka Slater

FARM GIRL, the groundbreaking and critically-acclaimed folklore history by Karen Jones Gowen, is a 2012 KINDLE BESTSELLER FOR CHILDREN "Omitting sensationalized incidents and graphic sexual exploits,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0979607000
• ISBN13: 9780979607004
• Release Date: July 2007
• Publisher: WiDo Publishing
• Length: 183 Pages
• Weight: 0.78 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Fantastic Depiction of the Dust Bowl Era

What a fresh approach for recording family history! Karen Jones Gowen brings a foreign era to an accessible format via folklore--telling her mother's story of growing up in rural Nebraska in the Dust Bowl days in the personal first person point of view. In fact, she does this so well that I first took the moronic view that her book should be a standard for genealogists to tell their family's histories in this fantastic format. But I then realized Gowen must have worked extremely hard and possess incredible talent to present this story in such a simple and appealing format. It reads simply, accessibly. The world might know history better if we had mass clonings of Karen Jones Gowen to tell all our family histories! I was shocked to nearly feel that the story was a horror film! Snakes, rodents, and possums terrorized the characters and cow brains, pig hearts and livers filled their bellies. The protagonist was so awesomely tough that she clubbed an angry opossum on the head--as a kid. Her mother slaughtered seventeen rodents with a hand shovel! Lest I put Farm Girl in an unfairly brutal light, I must also mention the beauty of the story. This is a true story of strong farmers who lived off their own land and worked together in a community where honesty and goodness were the norm. But again, I must say I enjoyed this story very much and nearly felt I was reading Fantasy, the setting and circumstances were so foreign. And the numerous authentic photos were the absolute cream.

Incredible photos

I've never been a big fan of bios but this includes amazing pictures from the early 1920s and some pretty cool paintings done my Lucilles mother. She had an incredible eye for photography as well as painting. It makes me wonder where all the paintings she traded to help them through the depression have ended up.

Great historical perspective

This book by Karen Jones Gowen offers a wonderful view of what it was like to grow up in Nebraska in the 20's and 30's. It is told from the viewpoint of the author's mother who grew up during that time in Nebraska. It is well written and easy to read. It would be a great resouce for teachers who are trying to teach what life was like during that time period. The author also includes excerpts from her grandmother who was an early homesteader in Nebraska. The narrative style the author has used enhances the book and lets the reader feel as if they are living right along side Lucille Marker. I would highly recommend this book.