Last year, in a grandiose display of bravado, I bet the children I could read 1984, The Grapes of Wrath and The Call of the Wild before Yanni could read Tom Sawyer, and Xay could read Old Yeller.

I was a little nervous when Yanni had finished Tom Sawyer in four days. I decided to cut The Call of the Wild when Xay finished Old Yeller in a week.

What was I thinking? 1984 by itself would have been quite the challenge, but, The Grapes of Wrath, too?

I couldn’t help it. The first paragraph grabbed me and I knew I had to read that book. Whereas Orwell ropes you in with the absurd story, Steinbeck calls to you with his vivid descriptions. I wanted to know more about that world immediately.

I found the language a bit hard to get used to at first. These people were hicks from Oklahoma, or Okies, are they are later called. Steinbeck uses a lot of apostrophes to capture their language. It took a while to pick up that the character called Rosasharn was actually named Rose of Sharon. The cussing reminded me that this book was from the adult section of the library; I didn’t need to recommend it to Yanni just yet.

The book covers the historical migration of dust bowl farmers out west to California. Beckoned by fliers that promised plenty of work, these destitute people, thrown off their land by bank repossessions, these people packed all they could and made it west.

The children have a Veggie Tales tape that tells the story of the Grapes of Wrath, featuring a family of twanging, angry grapes. It is funny, silly, but, I was surprised, captures some of the spirit of the actual book. The picture of a family of hillbillies, like the Beverly Hillbillies, driving with their house on their truck, is pretty much the picture this book evokes.

I found out more about the Great Depression reading this book than I ever learned in school. I could feel what it was like to slowly starve. I could feel the despair and anger of not being able to find work. I also felt the sting of losing family members, one by one.

This book really tells a hopeless tale, and yet I was still hoping and praying for a turnaround. I was surprised by the ending, but I thought it showed a glimmer of hope, at least in a symbolic way.

Yanni was in the homeschool musical, Annie, during the time that I read The Grapes of Wrath. I was surprised that both Annie and The Grapes of Wrath mentioned Hoovervilles. It turns out, they both took place during the depression, and characters in each came face to face with these make-shift shanty towns.

I found myself wanting to learn more about the Depression after reading this book. I watched the movie, starring Henry Fonda. I didn’t like the way they portrayed the sweeping story. I was able to get more out of watching Annie than I’ve ever gotten before. The historical context, provided by The Grapes of Wrath, gave the story of little orphan Annie such depth.

I definitely want to read other books by John Steinbeck. This one deeply impacted me.