Karen Halvorsen Schreck

This book opens with an air of despair. Given it takes place as the Depression is impacting the mid-West and the dustbowl conditions that hurt so many farmers drove people away from their lifelong homes. Ruth has just married her childhood sweetheart and moved to the oilfields of Texas where her husband Charlie has a job. They don’t have much but they are deeply in love. As she settles into her life there and starts to dream of a future it all blows up – literally as her husband is killed in an accident. Ruth suddenly finds herself back at home, drifting, unsure of what to do with her life.

Her one friend in her hometown in Oklahoma, the librarian, had encouraged both Ruth and her husband to apply to college before they got married and left for Texas. When Ruth starts to come out of her funk she goes back to the library where she finds that not only has she been accepted to college but that she has a full scholarship. Ruth decided to go over the objections of her father. Her mother is thrilled for her and as she leaves for California for school she gives her the address of an old friend to look up.

Ruth gets to college and she meets her mother’s old friends but all does not go quite as she plans. It is in meeting the son of her mother’s friends that her education truly begins because he shows her what is really going on in the world. He educates her about “repatriation” and the forced deportation of immigrant workers – many in the country legally and quite a few who are American citizens. It is sold to the public as best for all but is it?

I have to admit that I had no idea about this practice that resonates so closely to today’s attitudes towards migrant workers whether they are here legally or not. This country seems to have a long history of acting poorly to people of color. I do love when a book teaches me something new and sends me off on a search for more information.

The story is good one. There are some convenient turns to help move the plot but nothing egregious. The characters are interesting and develop over the course of the novel. I found it hard to leave the story behind. I’ve been fortunate in my reading lately. This is a book that probably deserves a second read.… (mere)

Title: Broken Ground
Author: Karen Halvorsen Shreck
Pages: 336
Year: 2016
Publisher: Howard
My rating is 5 stars.
When you read the synopsis, it might appear as if the novel would focus on the Dust Bowl in Texas, but it really is about one central character named Ruth. Ruth at one time was married to her childhood sweetheart, finding joy even amid very harsh elements and times. When life throws her into turmoil, she is forced to return home with her parents. Ruth’s father is a very dominant and devious man who cares not one whit for Ruth.
Ruth’s solace is the local library where she can read, learn as well as learning from the head librarian herself. When Ruth gets an opportunity to go to college, she goes until that too is ripped away from her. Through all her trials it seems as though Ruth matures and embraces life again after her grief lifts.
Ruth’s father and his church put forth a very rigid religion that makes life difficult for Ruth. Finally, Ruth ends up in a place where her heart begins to grasp both the good and evil that happens in this world. I really found the tale taking me places in my imagination I had no idea it would go or think about such things such as rounding up people of certain ethnicity and deporting them whether they were citizens of America or not.
The ending was very touching as was the whole story. I am not sure one can read a novel such as this and not be left thinking of our nation’s history and the acts of that time as ordered by the President. I grew to dislike a lot of the farm owners in the way they used people and discarded them without any care whatsoever. In the end, I think the point I came away with is to face life head on as running away doesn’t change a thing. The other point I came away with is the peace and hope in a relationship with the Lord can bring us nothing else the world might.
Disclosure of Material Connection: I received one or more of the products or services mentioned above for free in the hope that I would mention it on my blog. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will be good for my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255. “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”… (mere)

When Lucy's class is given the assignment of creating family trees, the young girl is forced to confront her feelings about being adopted, and the way that - in her mind - this sets her own family apart from other, more "typical" families. Insisting to her worried parents that she cannot do the assignment, because she is "different," Lucy is presented with a challenge in turn: if she can find three families, amongst all her friends and acquaintances, who are the same, her father will help her with the flower garden she's been wanting. Easy!, Lucy thinks. But is it? Just what is normal, and who qualifies...?

Although it seems to have gotten low marks from the professional reviewers, I found Lucy's Family Tree quite moving, and was even tearing up, from time to time, as I read it on my commute this morning. The idea that families are diverse - Lucy discovers that every family she knows is 'different' in some way, whether because they are Jewish, or have same-sex parents, or have lost a child - is a valuable one, and cannot be reinforced too much; while the realities of adoption, particularly cross-cultural and interracial adoption, are sensitively depicted here. I liked the eventual solution found, to Lucy's family tree dilemma, as well as the author's presentation of further resources about adoption, and ideas for adapting the "family tree" assignment so that it is relevant for more children.

All in all, this was an engaging book about an important topic, with a narrative that works well, and illustrations that are appealing (even if not exactly my cup of tea). Recommend to young adoptees who are asking questions, and to teachers who are considering assigning a family tree project.… (mere)