Moss Trelawney’s dad has given up. The U.S. is deep in the Depression, and he’s become a drunk who left his family to fend for themselves. So Moss decides to be as different as he can be – he joins the Civilian Conservation Corps, or CCC, a group that will forever change the face of America. The CCC runs like the Army, but it builds dams, plants trees, changes the flows of creeks and rivers – all to fight the deadly Dust Bowl and prevent mass starvation. But it’s really hard work, and the Depression brings out the mean in people. Can Moss make it in the CCC? Or will he be kicked out and become a drunken, shiftless bum like his dad? Easy read, fast moving historical fiction, 267 pp. ( )

RGG: Wonderful story about a seventeen-year-old boy's joining of the Civilian Conservation Corps. References to the Dust Bowl and conservation efforts, train hopping, and a father abandoning his family and succombing to alcoholism.

Learned much of the Civilian Conservation Corps started during the Great Depression. When Moss Trawnley is left jobless and homeless, he joins the CCC and is sent to the State of Montana to plant trees, build water reservoirs and dams. He learns the value of hard work, caring for others and taking responsibility for his future. He comes upon a couple very nasty bosses but through it all, he accepts it and is well loved by all in his barracks.

Let's you know what it would have been like to grow up during The Depression. ( )