The Journal of C.J. Jackson: A Dust Bowl Migrant, Oklahoma to California, 1935

My Name Is America

by William Durbin

In another compelling entry from criticially-acclaimed author William Durbin, we meet C.J. Jackson, a young farmer whose family is forced to abandon their farm and seek a new life in California.

April 10, 1935

The dust has been blowing bad for several years in a row now. And with crop failures coming back to back like they have, hundreds of families have lost their farms. A Monday never passes without Sheriff Jake Allison posting a notice of foreclosure at the Boise City courthouse. Times are so rough, that when they hold an auction to sell a place, the only people that show up are the banks and the insurance companies. Nobody else has a nickel.

C.J. Jackson is a young man living through one of the most tragic times in the Dust Bowl of an America fraught with political, economic, and environmental problems. In this intense journal of life in the Oklahoma panhandle, C.J. tells it like it is-and it is bad.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Middle Grade, Young Adult, Childrens, Diary, Historical

144 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2002

About the author

William Durbin lives on Lake Vermilion at the edge of Minnesota's Boundary Waters Wilderness. A winner of the Great Lakes Book Award and a two-time winner of the Minnesota Book award, he has published short stories, essays, and poetry, as well as fourteen novels for young readers, including The Broken Blade, Wintering, Blackwater Ben, The Darkest Evening, The Journal of Otto Peltonen, and El Lector, which has been optioned for film by Jane Starz Productions. His latest novel, co-authored with his wife, Barbara is The Hidden Room. For more information visit his website at williamdurbin.com.
Durbin's honors include a Junior Library Guild Selection, Bank Street College Children’s Book of Year list, the ALA’s Amelia Bloomer list, New York Library Books for the Teen Age list, Maud Hart Lovelace nomination, Jefferson Cup Series of Note Award, Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Award, America’s Award commended title, Book Sense Summer Pick, Boy’s Life magazine serialization, St. Petersburg Times serialization, nominations for numerous state awards lists, and starred reviews in the major journals.
“William Durbin’s attention to detail—both historical and fictional—make him one of today’s masters of historical YA fiction.” -- David Gill of the NCTE

Reviews

[Amber · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Kristin Hannah's book "Four Winds" revealed a time in history, particularly the Dust Bowl and America's reaction to it, in which I am not well versed . I want to read more about the Dust Bowl and the lives of the migrants heading west so I decided to start with this book, "The Journal of CJ Jackson." This is fictional journal filled with historical details written about a family surviving the Dust Bowl, as told through the voice of one of the children, CJ Jackson. The story starts with the family still in Oklahoma, desperate to stay on the farm when so many other families have fled. In the end they cannot pay their farm taxes and decide to head west in search of jobs for a year with the goal of coming back to Oklahoma to restart their prairie life. In his journal CJ writes about the discrimination, disappointment and hardship that his family and the other 'Okies' endure - both on the journey and once they reach California.

It is hard to imagine that the United States went through such a terrible period for so many years; that so many people were victims of the weather and a financial catastrophe and that so many fellow Americans refused to help. The author, William Durbin, does a masterful job in bringing CJ's character to life, adding the historical details to help offset the fictional journal. I would recommend this as a quick read if you are someone like me who would like to use a variety of texts to grow your knowledge in this time period.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book because it was true and that at least one of the characters in it is actually still alive.

[Kate last name (optional) · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this book because it was very interesting reading about the dust bowl. A very decent book.

[Little Seal]

The historical note at the end shows that the author is truly an environmentalist, and makes me sad we are repeating the mistakes of the past

[Fred · Rating 5 out of 5]

Interesting book. The book told what became of C. J., I need to check that out.

[Jeniffer · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good book. Gives the reader a real idea of what life was like in that time.

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this story. The characters were well written and engaging. They were all likable and I liked following them, which can be an issue in the series overall.

It was also a fascinating look at how xenophobia and discrimination can be targeted at anyone enough people hate strongly enough, regardless if those people are as WASPy as you can get outside the fact they’re rural. The classism is on full display, as is the disgust at people who are just doing what they need to survive, and that’s as poignant as ever. It’s just a reminder that no matter how far we come, one thing depressingly remains the- money can buy you anything, including the right to exploit the poor like they’re not even humans. How people can be cruel and monstrous not only for the sake of it, but because they’d rather see the world burn than a person they think lower than them get something helpful sent their way

I didn’t expect this book to hit me so deep, but here we are.

[Sean Day · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading level: 5.6

Summary: What better way to instill history for young people to experience and remember than from books like this one written by William Durbin. What's the dust bowl? How did it happen? After learning the answers, readers can feel what its like; what it did to families; what it did to their homes. C.J. Jackon and his family lost their farm and were forced to move.

Genre: Historical Fiction

Mentor Writing Traits: The ideas spill out of this book. Telling the story from a 1st person narrative brings voice and feeling to the reader.

Classroom integration: This is a perfect social studies them based on history, geography and economics. After reading the book, students could be instructed to write how it would feel to fight for everything they have and then to lose it.

[Catherine Flynn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting and quite sad novel. The first half of this book was a hard read. As I was trying to feel the story, the scenarios were getting rougher and rougher. I was engrossed in the last half of the book. It was a good read learning how Depression Era made a tremendous hardship and impact to the Americans. I couldn't imagine the destruction made by the Dust Bowl, leaving so many Americans in the MidWest with almost nothing but dust and sand. This was one of the stories that opened my eyes hoe to appreciate things we have at this time of age, where everything is almost just a click away.

[Ms. Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

CJ's family owns a farm and ranch in Oklahoma that was doing fine until the Dust Bowl hit. The drought and dust storms have made it impossible to earn a living, and they lose their farm. The family packs up whatever they can bring with them and, like thousands of others from the Midwest head for greener pastures in California. But with the Great Depression in full swing and jobs scarce, what can one teenager do to turn things around for his family?

This is part of the "My Name Is America" series of diary novels, and it's a solid entry about how people survived one of the toughest periods of American history.

[Janis · Rating 4 out of 5]

From what I’ve read in other books and seen in dust bowl documentaries, this book did an excellent job of setting the scene as it really was. Such a heartbreaking period of American history. The author puts the blame solely on the shoulders of the farmers, who were doing just what the government and the bankers wanted them to. I found that judgement to be pretty harsh. The land was free and the government wanted it growing wheat. Until you’ve survived a 10 year drought, you don’t know it’s something you need to plan for.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a great historical fiction book about the Dust Bowl and the economic fall-out for the hundreds of thousands impacted by the ecological situation. If this was released at the same time as The Grapes of Wrath in 1939, this would have also been a banned book. Books like this that accurately portray discrimination, corrupt business practices, and greed from the Great Depression, rub some people the wrong way, and led to book burnings.

Easy to read and provides great dinner table discussions. Go read it.

[Kara · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've read a bunch of these books in this series as well as the one following girls.

I have mixed feelings on this one. It did cover a lot of ground a show many aspects of what it was like to live at that time. But so many little things were mentioned, it felt almost more like listing movies, magazines, and products of the time rather than telling a story. The story left me flat, the research was well done.

[Emilio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Follow a family from Oklahoma as they experience one of America's hardest times. There is action that includes driving backwards up a big hill, swimming across the Colorado river, and picking all kinds of crops to afford life in California.

[Lucy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wonderful book!

[Mae]

It is so intense and true at the same time for those of you who don't like history this is the book for you.

[Belle Meade School]

FIC
DUR

[Layna · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good, and gives me a taste of how life was for certain people back then.

[Z. Zoe · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite MNiA book so far!!

[Cindy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this but was very disappointed to find out at the very end it was a fictitious journal.

[Tori · Rating 4 out of 5]

I feel like I always learn a lot from Durbin's books in this series and I'm sad this will be the last one.

[Gayle DuBois · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. I’ve read others in the My Name is America series and I have enjoyed them as well.

[Hailee M · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever had to move? Move a long ways away from what you're used to? In the book "The Journal of C.J. Jackson, a Dust Bowl Migrant, Oklahoma to California, 1935" by William Durbin, C.J. and his family is forced to do just that. C.J. is a 13 year old boy who is living on the prairie in Oklahoma. This a book about his journey to California. His first entry is about how he was bit by a rattlesnake. He was going to get water for his mother and he saw a "rattler" and jumped back and landed on top of another that bit him in his calf. "If anyone ever tells you that a rattlesnake always rattles before it bites, don't believe them. I know 'cause one got me this very afternoon." C.J. Jackson
His parents are farmers but when the Dust Bowl sucks all of the life out of the land they are farming, they pack up and head for California. Why California? It has lots of land and lots of jobs, as they are told. C.J.'s father and mother are ready to move because C.J.'s grandpa died of dust pneumonia. C.J. is willing to leave his old life behind for his siblings and his own life. The road to California is Route 66. Along the way to California the Jacksons run into some nice people and some not so nice people. Some of the nice people help them with their load and others help with the trailer. The not so nice ones are State-boarder line Officers who are hating all "Okies" that come across that state line. When they arrive in California, they are made fun of and laughed at. Once a shop owner yelled at Belle, C.J.'s youngest sister, for touching the glass window and His father punched that man square in the nose. His daddy is taken to jail for 30 days, because he can't pay the $30. While his daddy is in jail, C.J. is the man of the shack.
When a nice man comes and asks if they want to live in a better place than a "Hoover Camp", they take that offer right away. They rent is 1 dollar a week and if you can't make rent, you can pay in labor around the camp. Thirty days later, they go and pick daddy up and head back to "Weedpatch Camp" as they call it. When they get back, they can see that the light has been taken out of daddy's eyes and his smile isn't quite as bright. C.J. knows what jail did to daddy. Lester and C.J. have been working the whole time daddy was gone. Weedpatch Camp is home to a lot of migrants. They have even organized committees. Some of the committees are A Campers Committee, Recreation and Entertainment Committee, a Child Welfare Committee, and a Good Neighbor Committee. How is this possible? The owner, Mr. Collins, believes in democracy. The rest is for me to know and you to find out. Happy Reading!

I recommend this book for 4th grade to 8th grade because of the information given.It is a Historical fiction, so if you like that... I liked this book very much.

[PSU · Rating 5 out of 5]

"Smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone"-mother (pg 125). Life for the jacksons could not get any harder then this. No money, no home, and the one thing they want the most, RAIN!!! life for us is never easy. And it was never easy back then! in fact it was even worse!! like for instance the main character of the story charles jefferson jackson or "CJ" can never catch a break. Both him and his famaly go threw so much for noting!! Or maybe their was something? Was thier peace resolution and wealthyness. or was their failer, anger, and pure sadness? we all as humans have cried at some point in are lifes. (Guilty!!) but we also have to be empathetic as well. We all need a shoulder to cry on at some point becouse like the saying goes " smile and the world smiles back. cry and you cry alone". ( I would not only reccomend the book but i would recommend the whole series to my sister becouse i know how much she loves to write and the books are kind of like a diary!)-Cesar.A

[TJL · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very interesting book.

Not gonna lie, the first few pages of the book drew me in if only because I really wanted to see how the author would follow up with a bloody chicken getting strapped to a teenager's leg (I think my exact words were "What in the ever-loving heck?")

In all seriousness, it's been a while since I've studied this subject, and I really enjoyed the perspective the author brought to the subject. I read the Dear America diary about the Dustbowl, and that covered some of the historical topics in this book, but I liked how this one went beyond that and covered what happened to the people who chose to leave, especially the discrimination faced by the Oklahomans.

[Krista Stevens · Rating 4 out of 5]

I haven't found too many books set in the 1930s with a male protagonist - this is one of them.

C.J.'s parents are farmers in Oklahoma. C.J.'s first diary entry is about being bit by a rattlesnake and the pace just keeps moving. Superb references to historical and cultural events. As the dust storms rumble across the country, his family and others struggle to survive. His grandfather does not. Sadly they must abandon their land. After a long and somewhat dangerous trek across the country, they arrive in California and attempt to find work. Well-told story.

[Molly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This entire series is a wonderful way to learn history or teach it to adolescents. I find today's generations seem to recall more when they learn through other people (pop songs, celebrity gossip, etc.), so what better way to teach history than through someone else's perspective? Yes, "authentic" diaries would be "better", but would the language really hold the modern student's attention? Did the diary writer know what WOULD be important in the context of history? Probably not.

[Daniel O. · Rating 5 out of 5]

have you ever read the jornal of c.j. jakson if you anwser no you missed a lot of fun.this book is about a boy his name is c.j. and thier was a storm that cuase a serious DUST BOWL.this book is a historical fiction book and its my personal favorite this is the BEST BOOK OF ALL TIME.i like it more than s.o.s file,number the stars,tatoo of death and all the books i have read so far in goodreads.i recomend this book to all my friends and famaly members.

[Amanda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very good book. It was a long time ago that I read it but I belive that it is about a boy that travels with his famliy to California. When they get to California it is not what it seemed.

This was a really sad and good book at the same time. I don't really know how to describe it but its awesome.

[Kelsey Hanson · Rating 3 out of 5]

This books was an interesting look at the people who were uprooted by the dust bowl. It was interesting to see just how much these people had to go through in order to build a new life for themselves after losing so much. I did think it was fascinating how they formed makeshift communities during their travels. A quick, but enjoyable read.