Author: Matt Phelan
The Storm in the Barn was an amazing book which touched on important events of the time even though it was just a children's book. The main character of this book is a little boy by the name of Jack who was originally from from Kansas. Jack lived with his parents and two sisters during the hard times of the Dust Bowl era in the United States. Being the only boy in the house, Jack is constantly trying to be looked at as grown up. At the end, Jack fights a rain man monster which culminates in his defeat to fears he had due to the fact he was not fully grown. Even though the book is aimed for children, it dives the reader into how life was like around the Dust Bowl in the United States. Jack and his family simply show some of the things many Americans went through during this period. I loved how they incorporated true facts with fantasy because it exposes us to more than just a story. I personally never really enjoyed fictional books but I loved historical fiction. I did not find interest in reading books about things that were not real to me and so I had to have books that had facts. I was glad to have read this book because I somehow related to Jack. His desire to be looked at as a grown up made me remember that I also wanted to be looked at the same way. I know how strong how that feeling can be and so I am able to understand his actions. In addition, I could really understand or wrap my mind around some of his thoughts and ideas. For instance, he seemed to think that dead snakes brought rain and well I have a similar superstition. I believe that if you see a dead cat something bad is going to happen and this has become reinforced through some experiences. I guess in my case I obtained such superstitions from family members who passed it on to me but he got it or should I say created it off the Dust Bowl period which he lived in. I guess it was very hard for him to go through it and so he had to find something to lift his spirit and have hope on. I also felt very connected to him when he had his conversation with his mom (page 115-116). I personally remember sitting with my mom and discussing things that were affecting my growing up process. For instance, I remember how my sister receiving more attention was affecting me. Until this was addressed I felt relieved and was finally able to continue growing up, which I feel was the same for Jack. In addition, I can not emphasize how critical and helpful his illustrations were. The illustrator trasmitted a lot of emotion, reactions, and feeling through his depiction of facial expressions, the clothing portrayal, movement, and what not. There might have not been a lot of text in this story but there was no need because the illustrations spoke louder than words. I have always been a visual learner and this book really made me feel and understand exactly what the characters were experiencing. For instance, where he is fighting the rain man monster I could feel his fear and it almost seemed like I am in there with him. Without even noticing it, I felt like I was part of what was going on in the story. The illustrator really knew how to trigger certain reactions through the picmentations he used. Dull colors were for not very pleasant moments such as the Dust Bowl and brighter color for those wonderful memories before this period of time. Overall, I felt truly connected to little Jack in many ways even though we are quite different. I feel like we both overcame many things and had similar desires. When I saw Jack succeed in making rain fall once again I felt happy for him because this meant not only an end for the Dust Bowl era but as proof of his development to his family. He had finally succeeded on something that would make a big difference in many lives and show his family how capable as well as grown up he was. I really can not emphasize how delighted I was to have read this book.
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