R My Name Is Rachel (review)

Rachel is devastated when she learns that her widowed father is moving the family from Brooklyn to seek out better opportunities in the rural community of North Lake. The Great Depression isn't any kinder to North Lake, however: the job her father sought is no longer available, the farm they are renting is in disrepair, and the late winter storms bring cold and isolation unlike any the family has known before. Rachel's father eventually finds work building roads, a job that takes him away from his three children for many months, and Rachel, her sister, Cassie, and her brother, Joey, must use all of their resources to survive alone in the countryside. There is a universal appeal in stories where kids endure hardship without adults, and Giff 's latest will not disappoint. Rachel is a wholly likable protagonist, and her voice offers a clear, youthful perspective on the era. The pacing of the novel feels deliberately slow, as if time is creeping along and options are running out, and the quiet tension plays beautifully to the facts of the difficult times. Offer this as an alternative perspective to Dust Bowl stories, or simply hand it to historical fiction fans ready to explore a new time and place.