In Kansas in the year 1937, eleven-year-old Jack Clark faces his share of ordinary challenges: local bullies, his father's failed expectations, a little sister with an eye for trouble. But he also has to deal with the effects of the Dust Bowl, including rising tensions in his small town and the spread of a shadowy illness. Certainly a case of "dust dementia" would explain who (or what) Jack has glimpsed in the Talbot's abandoned barn - a sinister figure with a face like rain. In a land where it never rains, it's hard to trust what you see with your own eyes, and harder still to take heart and be a hero when the time comes

GN560L

Middle School

Decoding demand: 74 (high) Semantic demand: 95 (very high) Syntactic demand: 65 (high) Structure demand: 84 (very high)

A Texas Bluebonnet Award nominee, 2011-2012

Scott O'Dell Award for Historical Fiction, 2010