I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935

I Survived

by Lauren Tarshis

The conditions of the Dust Bowl created over 2.5 million refugees who fled massive dust storms and barren landscapes. Lauren Tarshis's story of one boy's journey to escape this disaster will leave you breathless.

The Dust Bowl of the 1930s was the worst environmental disaster in American history, a time when “black blizzards” of dust, some hundreds of miles wide, swept across the southern plains. Hundreds of people were killed. Thousands of farms were buried. Millions of refugees fled starvation and sickness in the plains only to face hatred and prejudice in California.

In her 25th I Survived book, Lauren Tarshis brings this desperate time of poverty and fear to life through the thrilling story of an eleven-year-old boy who risks his life to save his family and friends during the worst dust storm of all, an event that would become known as "Black Sunday." Includes a section of nonfiction back matter with more facts and photos about the real-life event.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Juvenile, Childrens, American History, Survival, Middle Grade

144 pages, Library Binding

Published December 2, 2025

About the author

Lauren Tarshis often wonders how she came to spend most of her waking moments thinking about disasters, as the author of the children's historical fiction series "I Survived." Each book takes readers into the heart of history's most thrilling and terrifying events, including the sinking of the Titanic, the Shark Attacks of 1916, Hurricane Katrina, the bombing of Pearl Harbor, the San Francisco earthquake, 9/11, and the Battle of Gettysburg. Writing these books often makes her feel very nervous, as though at any moment a volcano could erupt right outside her window. Then again, she has learned a thing or two about avoiding being eaten by a shark.
Lauren is also the author of the the award-winning Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell Out of a Tree and its sequel, Emma-Jean Lazarus Fell in Love.

For more information, go to her website: www.LaurenTarshis.com

And check out the I Survived Website: www.Scholastic.com/ISurvived

Reviews

[Kat V · Rating 3 out of 5]

To be honest I just didn’t like this one as much as the others. That being said I would still put it in my classroom. 3.2 stars

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoy this series and I will wait anxiously for another one.

[Alex · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think the ending was a little rushed, but this was still really good.

[Holly Johns · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good !! Read to Jett, we both enjoyed.

[Ms. Yingling · Rating 3 out of 5]

Copy provided by Young Adult Books Central

Ray lives on a farm in the Texas Panhandle in 1935, during the Great Depression. His best friend, Dolly, frequently accompanies him on his adventures, but things are changing in their small town. The bakery where the two occasionally buy cookies has closed, and many of their classmates in their one room school house have moved to California to pursue better opportunities. Still, there are some boys who show up in the two, having ridden on freight trains away from their own homes. When dust storms arise, Ray and Dolly know to seek shelter, but these storms seem to be becoming more frequent, and the two get caught in town, at school, and at home, where they have to ride out the dust and spend hours cleaning up afterwards. At one point, Ray's father ventures out to check on the chickens, and it is a tense time until he returns. Even with all of the precautions like Vaseline to line their nostrils, wet cloths and even surplus WWI era gas masks to block particulates, and protocols for sheltering in place, many people, including Dolly's brother Skippy, develop "dust pneumonia" and have trouble breathing. When Dolly's family leaves for California and Ray's family is in danger of losing their farm to the bank, Ray decides to strike out on his own, but runs into complications. There is historical information as well as period photographs at the end of the book.

As we approach the 100th anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash, I am glad to see new books on the Great Depression such as Colman's Where Only Storms Grow and Ruiz-Flores' The Pecan Sheller. The books written shortly after this era don't delve as much into the health implications of the dust storms, or the environmental issues that led to the soil erosion and subsequest dust storms. Both of these issues interest my students.

While there were many topics that are frequently covered, like children riding the rails, farms being foreclosed, and the suffocating terror of being caught in a storm. I did learn some new and surprising things, such as the fact that World War I surplus gas masks were distributed to children so that they could breathe somewhat more freely, and the odd occurrence of rain clouds meeting with dust clouds and producing showers of MUD!

The best part of the I Survived books are the historical back matter, which includes period photos and much discussion of a variety of topics. I would have avidly saved my allowance to purchase these titles in elementary school! I always encourage students to further their investigations with nonfiction titles, which in this case would include Brown's The Great American Dust Bowl and Sandler's Picturing a Nation.

[Melanie Dulaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

This 25th installment in Lauren Tarshis’ highly successful I Survived series focuses on The Dust Bowl period, specifically in 1935 and in the panhandle area of Texas. Her main characters, Ray and Dolly, are fictional, but based on an amalgamation of research and actual children met while she was touring areas that endured the swirling dust storms that tormented large sections of the High Plains during the Great Depression. Through their eyes, readers will experience the storms and their after effects including massive clean up, dry and cracked farmland that would no longer produce crops, and debilitating health effects in addition to the fear, desperation and hopeless that was felt by so many. But Tarshis also includes the determination to survive exhibited by so many as well as the hope of a brighter future that kept people going.

Ray and Dolly’s stories are factual but Tarshis does not get so overly detailed that younger elementary readers will be alarmed, only informed. She sprinkles historical figures such as Babe Ruth, Amelia Earhart, Jesse Owens and Florence Nightingale seamlessly into the plot giving readers brief bits about their accomplishments and adding to the learning potential of the book. After the storms end and readers get a look at the adult lives of the main characters, approximately 100 pages, Tarshis includes another 40 pages of factual information covering the environmental and human factors that caused the massive dust storms, the overlap with The Great Depression, the flight of many to California in the hope of great opportunities, the occurrences of dust storms today and the continuing efforts of farmers, researchers and others to keep the land healthy enough to avoid another period of dust storms.

Highly recommended for ages 7-12. For those who want more information about the Dust Bowl period in a historical fiction format, try the older but still excellent Out of the Dust by Karen Hesse and the more recent and truly outstanding Where Only Storms Grow by Alyssa Colman.

[Becky · Rating 4 out of 5]

First sentence: Eleven-year-old Ray Nicholson stared in horror at the massive cloud racing across the sky. It was a mountain of churning blackness that rose up thousands of feet in the air. It stretched out as far as Ray could see.

Premise/plot: I Survived the Dust Bowl, 1935, is set in the Texas Panhandle. Ray Nicholson is the protagonist. He and his friends are eye-witness to the struggles facing the community: the drought, the dust storms, dust pneumonia and other lung issues, the economy, etc. Ray is in the middle of running away from home--trying to catch a train to California--when a BIG dust storm comes that gives him a new outlook on life.

My thoughts: I liked this one well enough. I think the I Survived series--this is the twenty-fifth I believe--definitely have a time and place in libraries--public, school, classroom, and personal. Young readers often go through a phase where predictable series are EVERYTHING. Binge-reading though a beloved series is such an important stage. And I think the series as a whole is definitely good. I enjoy this series because it always includes some nonfiction back matter to supplement the story. Yet it isn't a separate companion book like another series.

[Cynthia · Rating 5 out of 5]

I absolutely love this series. This one hit close to home as I recently was with a 103 yo woman in her last days. She told me about how she and her husband ( as children in nearby towns) survived the dust bowl. It made it so real to me for the first time. Her daily chore was to wet down the outside of her house ( the front door, porch, walkway) to keep down the dust from getting in. Her husband when he was in his early 80s got diagnosed with what they thought was lung cancer and they went in to do a needle biopsy and discovered it was encapsulated dust from the dust bowl!! As I read this book, it was her voice I heard reading it.

[Angel Mouser · Rating 3 out of 5]

I feel like the Dust Bowl is just such a hard natural disaster to fit into this series' typical format. I think this book was able to show different ways people reacted to the disaster by giving subplots to the supporting characters, but I don't know if there was enough substance to the actual "survival" of this narrator, compared to some of the examples we've seen before. I now want to have a book on "I survived being struck by lightning" or something similar after the short electrocution plot in this one.

[Summer Reading · Rating 5 out of 5]

4.5

This book breaks the I Survived formula a little bit, but I liked the variation. Tarshis is always so thorough in her research. I appreciate the small details she includes in her stories that make the setting come alive. I love that her characters are scared AND brave at the same time. I love how these books encourage readers with hope in difficult times.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

It's been a minute since I read an I Survived book, and this newest one interested me because I grew up in Oklahoma. These quick reads are popular with the kids, and this one will be no different! I appreciate the back matter, where Ms. Tarshis always gives more information about the historical event that she is focusing on in her novel, and recommendations for further reading and viewing.

[Tyffany · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my first "I Survived" book and I am surprised how it was much easier to read than I expected. I was really nervous reading about such a tragic event. It was great though! It gently guided me through this hard event so I understood the seriousness without too much sorrow. I want to learn, but not by making myself incredibly depressed.

[Gretchen Bunn · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jennifer A. Nielsen kind of ruined Lauren Tarshis for me.

It was fine but very short and I didn’t care much about the characters, and the story stopped abruptly. I get that it’s for kids though and my son loved it.

[Christy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quick and easy. Read this one for the school Battle of the Books competition. This will be a great read for the upper elementary kids. Cute story- plus lots of true facts added to the back of the book.

[Maquell canfield · Rating 4 out of 5]

Not my favorite book from her but still good. I did not know anything about “the dust bowl” and it was very interesting and sad.

[Gabriel Benitez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buen relato sobre otro desastre —este NO natural, aunque hay que leer el libro para entender por qué — , en este caso una gigantesca tormenta de arena capaz de engullir pueblos enteros.
El relato es interesante pero es verdad que la autora va a usar el desastre solo como desenlace de la historia. Y es que cuando estás en medio de una tormenta de arena, no hay mucho que hacer

[kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

lackluster

[Casey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 this was one of the better I survived books in my opinion.I like the characters learning about the dust bowl and the ending was chef's kiss.

[Mitty Spidell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very enlightening-I always think of Oklahoma as where the dust bowl happened, but it was more widespread than that.

[Rosa Davis · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was an interesting and informational good read. Tarshis went to my hometown and researched for this book. I thought it was fascinating.

[Awjtf · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great story!

[Vicky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent bk about Ray , his family, and Ray’s friend Dolly trying to survive the dust storms. Facts and pictures in the back.

[Melissa Lawyer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This one was one of the better ones we’ve read in the series. Bravo.

[Erika · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn’t personally enjoy this book as much as other I Survived titles. However, it did spark interest among some students-encouraging them to explore other books in the series.

[Antonela LoRusso · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was amazing! It was so cute when Ray and Dotty reunited. I was happy to hear that Alice and Ray got married.

[Katy Lovejoy · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is just a great series on so many levels