Hard Times for Jake Smith: A Story of the Depression Era

(Paperback)

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Its 1935, and the hard times of the Great Depression, it seems, are here to stay. Each day, something else is gone: first the pig, then the cow, then one day even the beloved dog, Adder, is sold off. Finally, the whole family packs up in the car and leavesthe children wonder where, but their parents are silent.

After a couple hours drive, the car stops on the edge of the road and Ma leans into the back seat, giving MaryJake a handkerchief with something tied inside and instructions to walk down the path into the forest, take theleftfork into town, and present the handkerchief at the rock house. Then the carand with it, Ma, Pa, and MaryJakes two brothersdrives away.

So begins the adventure of an abandoned girl who chooses her own path (neither left fork nor right), dyes her hair in a stump full of walnut-colored water, and disguises herself as a boy in order to survive. MaryJake Wildsmith is now Jake Smith, soon to discover that she is not the only one keeping secrets.

Reviews

"Henderson's creepy descriptions and exquisite stinginess with information keep the mystery simmering alongside an affecting, uncliched story of a family in crisis."