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Red-Dirt Jessie
From the author of Tulsa Burning and Stolen by the Sea
A farm can be a lonely place when it’s filled with grief and worry. After Jessie’s little sister dies, her father just gives up on life. Caring about nothing, he sits and rocks all day long in grandmother’s old chair. With her mother struggling to keep the family afloat during the hard days of the dusty Depression, it is up to Jessie to breathe some life back into her family. But how can a twelve-year-old girl pull her father out of his chair and back to the land of the living? The answer comes to her in the form of Ring, a one-hundred-pound dog that was abandoned on a neighboring farm. Wary of people, Ring refuses to accept Jessie’s friendship or assistance. But Jessie is determined to win Ring’s trust. She just knows that if she can tame a fine dog like Ring, together they will have the power to heal her father’s broken spirit.
"Myers writes with a rare understanding of a young girl's highs and lows. The simplicity of the language goes right to the heart." -- Kirkus Reviews
"An author worth keeping an eye on. . . This is a well-written, spare story." -- School Library Journal
A farm can be a lonely place when it’s filled with grief and worry. After Jessie’s little sister dies, her father just gives up on life. Caring about nothing, he sits and rocks all day long in grandmother’s old chair. With her mother struggling to keep the family afloat during the hard days of the dusty Depression, it is up to Jessie to breathe some life back into her family. But how can a twelve-year-old girl pull her father out of his chair and back to the land of the living? The answer comes to her in the form of Ring, a one-hundred-pound dog that was abandoned on a neighboring farm. Wary of people, Ring refuses to accept Jessie’s friendship or assistance. But Jessie is determined to win Ring’s trust. She just knows that if she can tame a fine dog like Ring, together they will have the power to heal her father’s broken spirit.
"Myers writes with a rare understanding of a young girl's highs and lows. The simplicity of the language goes right to the heart." -- Kirkus Reviews
"An author worth keeping an eye on. . . This is a well-written, spare story." -- School Library Journal
128 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1992
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63 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
April 21, 2017
During the time of the great depression folks were pretty broke with little hope of getting honest employment. I guess you can say it looks like the year 2016.
During the hard times, Jessie, her younger brother and her even younger sister, her mom and dad, her Aunt Maybell and her husband Uncle Delbret said not only hard-times but hunger. After Jessie’s younger sister Patsy develops pneumonia and dies, her dad goes in a depression so severe that they don’t know if he will pull out of it.
Aunt Maybell and Uncle Delbert, longing for better times, learns of jobs in California and embarks upon a journey for a better life inviting Jessie and her family to join them. Jessie’s mother declines the offer not wanting to leave her nearly comatose husband behind.
Red Dirt Jess was a journey I enjoyed going on with her and her family. I highly recommend Red Dirt to children of all ages.
During the hard times, Jessie, her younger brother and her even younger sister, her mom and dad, her Aunt Maybell and her husband Uncle Delbret said not only hard-times but hunger. After Jessie’s younger sister Patsy develops pneumonia and dies, her dad goes in a depression so severe that they don’t know if he will pull out of it.
Aunt Maybell and Uncle Delbert, longing for better times, learns of jobs in California and embarks upon a journey for a better life inviting Jessie and her family to join them. Jessie’s mother declines the offer not wanting to leave her nearly comatose husband behind.
Red Dirt Jess was a journey I enjoyed going on with her and her family. I highly recommend Red Dirt to children of all ages.
December 21, 2009
It was a good book but maybe a little too depressing and inappropriate for the classroom
February 7, 2018
so this book is about jessie, H.J and some others.
the first think that happens is pasty dies in chapter 1.
The next thing that happens is that jessie is trying to tame ring a wild dog.
But the precher and some other people want to go hunting to kill cyotees and wild dogs.
Then sence ring is rilly shy she just puts food under a kettle in her ants back yard.
Sence ring is varry shy ring dosent come out intel jessie has left.
Sence pasty died her dad was deppresed for most of the book.
Her dad always sat in a roking chair or tried to dig to china exsept at the first and last of the book.
H.J is jessies. little brother H.J, prity much just followes jessie around and does what people tell him to.
In my opinion this book is sad but a good book.
I like how much deitel they put into ring.
I also like how they discriped jessie and deitel they put on her.
I also like how H.J and Jessie were sisters.
I also like how they discribed thier dad and mom
I recemend this book for you to reed it is amazing.
the first think that happens is pasty dies in chapter 1.
The next thing that happens is that jessie is trying to tame ring a wild dog.
But the precher and some other people want to go hunting to kill cyotees and wild dogs.
Then sence ring is rilly shy she just puts food under a kettle in her ants back yard.
Sence ring is varry shy ring dosent come out intel jessie has left.
Sence pasty died her dad was deppresed for most of the book.
Her dad always sat in a roking chair or tried to dig to china exsept at the first and last of the book.
H.J is jessies. little brother H.J, prity much just followes jessie around and does what people tell him to.
In my opinion this book is sad but a good book.
I like how much deitel they put into ring.
I also like how they discriped jessie and deitel they put on her.
I also like how H.J and Jessie were sisters.
I also like how they discribed thier dad and mom
I recemend this book for you to reed it is amazing.
February 12, 2021
This was a book I found at a local bookshop, thought it might have potential, and when we changed stock while I was volunteering there, I ended up taking this home free. I'm glad I didn't pay for this.
This was a little too depressing and realistic for me.
It opens with her dead sister lying on the kitchen table on a sheet. Not a great thing to have in a kid's book. Or any book really...
The word damn is used, which also shouldn't be in a kid's book.
The page numbers were on top of the pages, beside the title so you almost missed it. I thought, this book doesn’t have numbered pages until I saw it.
The writing was very hickish and unpleasant to read.
“You’ll not feel right do you not.”
“You might not never really tame him.”
“You call me do you see him.”
They use the phrase “timidy” instead of timid or timidity. Didn't quite understand that.
“Remember the squirrels we used to eat? They sure was good.”
Despite it being on the depressing and serious side, there were some touching, poignant moments, mostly about the dog. haha
‘Ring would be for me what the locust shells were for H.J.’
‘I didn’t call to him, but I looked at him, and I sent him a message right from my heart.’
‘He’s making things better already, I thought. Ring’s done started to make things better.’
“So much hurt in this old world. So much hurt and no way for a mother to spare her young ones. There just ain’t no way in this old world. The next world, though, they say that one’s better.”
“Don’t you die. Just don’t you die now.”
“He won’t,” said H.J. “We got us a dog now for sure.”
“Remember the story in the Bible about David. He killed a giant with a rock, & he was just a kid.”
“He had a slingshot, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but we don’t need one. We got good Oklahoma arms that sure have throwed a lot of rocks.”
‘"Timidy, ain’t she? The old taunt went through my mind. No, no, she ain’t timidy, I answered. She got her little brother into this, and she will get him out.’
There was some humor too, which helped. There had been a water moccasin under the rocking chair her mom rocked her in as a baby.
“Cottonmouths. They been after me from the beginning.” Haha
‘Might be it wouldn’t be such a bad thing was I to be took by pirates. Maybe the Depression has set them to wandering just like it had Aunt Maybell and Uncle Delbert. They could be roaming around Oklahoma looking for children to steal.’
They used the word unders for underwear. Lol
Her brother, after hearing Preacher talk about Moses getting water from ricks by hitting them with sticks, planned to go in the pasture and make a swimming hole for them by beating the rocks.
I liked learning about the time period, but I wish there had been more on it. Like how country schools started near the end of August because of fall break for cotton picking.
The dad finally snaps out of his depression,& then the book ends. Way too suddenly. He says Ring is a blessed gift, which is a phrase he used to say, and what Jessie told him during his depression, so we know it got through to him.
The blurb on goodreads says her dad had a nervous breakdown, but it looked more like depression to me. And it wasn’t addressed, what it does to your mind and body.
I knew something would happen, wasn’t sure what. It ends up being H.J. and Jessie almost being attacked by a wild dog,& then Ring comes to save Jessie. I love that Jessie protected her brother and made herself the target for the dog. I felt for her brother when he was crying and said “I made the coyotes run.” She tells her brother to run and starts throwing rocks at the dog. Her dad comes out, tells her to run so he can shoot.
It was all great, but I wanted to see more of the afterwards, how the family comes together after her dad snapped out of it. Very disappointing with the sudden ending.
The dad got on my nerves, just rocking away and ignoring everyone and everything. You wanted to smack some sense into him. Actually, I wished the family had left for California with Jessie's aunt, but then we wouldn't have the story, so.
It was depressing, but had places of inspiration and touching moments and a few humorous bits.
Jessie got on my nerves the way she made herself sick worrying about her aunt's dog that she wanted to tame & make their pet to heal her dad, & how she didn’t even want to go for the church meeting because of it. It was pretty dramatic.
I read this in a few hours, and was actually the second book I read that day. Two books in one day. That's surely a record for me.
Anyway, glad I finally gave it a chance, but not sure if I'll be keeping this or not.
This was a little too depressing and realistic for me.
It opens with her dead sister lying on the kitchen table on a sheet. Not a great thing to have in a kid's book. Or any book really...
The word damn is used, which also shouldn't be in a kid's book.
The page numbers were on top of the pages, beside the title so you almost missed it. I thought, this book doesn’t have numbered pages until I saw it.
The writing was very hickish and unpleasant to read.
“You’ll not feel right do you not.”
“You might not never really tame him.”
“You call me do you see him.”
They use the phrase “timidy” instead of timid or timidity. Didn't quite understand that.
“Remember the squirrels we used to eat? They sure was good.”
Despite it being on the depressing and serious side, there were some touching, poignant moments, mostly about the dog. haha
‘Ring would be for me what the locust shells were for H.J.’
‘I didn’t call to him, but I looked at him, and I sent him a message right from my heart.’
‘He’s making things better already, I thought. Ring’s done started to make things better.’
“So much hurt in this old world. So much hurt and no way for a mother to spare her young ones. There just ain’t no way in this old world. The next world, though, they say that one’s better.”
“Don’t you die. Just don’t you die now.”
“He won’t,” said H.J. “We got us a dog now for sure.”
“Remember the story in the Bible about David. He killed a giant with a rock, & he was just a kid.”
“He had a slingshot, didn’t he?”
“Yes, but we don’t need one. We got good Oklahoma arms that sure have throwed a lot of rocks.”
‘"Timidy, ain’t she? The old taunt went through my mind. No, no, she ain’t timidy, I answered. She got her little brother into this, and she will get him out.’
There was some humor too, which helped. There had been a water moccasin under the rocking chair her mom rocked her in as a baby.
“Cottonmouths. They been after me from the beginning.” Haha
‘Might be it wouldn’t be such a bad thing was I to be took by pirates. Maybe the Depression has set them to wandering just like it had Aunt Maybell and Uncle Delbert. They could be roaming around Oklahoma looking for children to steal.’
They used the word unders for underwear. Lol
Her brother, after hearing Preacher talk about Moses getting water from ricks by hitting them with sticks, planned to go in the pasture and make a swimming hole for them by beating the rocks.
I liked learning about the time period, but I wish there had been more on it. Like how country schools started near the end of August because of fall break for cotton picking.
The dad finally snaps out of his depression,& then the book ends. Way too suddenly. He says Ring is a blessed gift, which is a phrase he used to say, and what Jessie told him during his depression, so we know it got through to him.
The blurb on goodreads says her dad had a nervous breakdown, but it looked more like depression to me. And it wasn’t addressed, what it does to your mind and body.
I knew something would happen, wasn’t sure what. It ends up being H.J. and Jessie almost being attacked by a wild dog,& then Ring comes to save Jessie. I love that Jessie protected her brother and made herself the target for the dog. I felt for her brother when he was crying and said “I made the coyotes run.” She tells her brother to run and starts throwing rocks at the dog. Her dad comes out, tells her to run so he can shoot.
It was all great, but I wanted to see more of the afterwards, how the family comes together after her dad snapped out of it. Very disappointing with the sudden ending.
The dad got on my nerves, just rocking away and ignoring everyone and everything. You wanted to smack some sense into him. Actually, I wished the family had left for California with Jessie's aunt, but then we wouldn't have the story, so.
It was depressing, but had places of inspiration and touching moments and a few humorous bits.
Jessie got on my nerves the way she made herself sick worrying about her aunt's dog that she wanted to tame & make their pet to heal her dad, & how she didn’t even want to go for the church meeting because of it. It was pretty dramatic.
I read this in a few hours, and was actually the second book I read that day. Two books in one day. That's surely a record for me.
Anyway, glad I finally gave it a chance, but not sure if I'll be keeping this or not.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 3, 2013
The time of the great depression is hard. Its harder still when your littlest sibling dies and your father falls into a deep depression to the point that he talks very little, eats even less, and spends the majority of his days in the rocking chair. Those are the significant events of Jessie's life that turn it upside down. Her mother must be strong for the family and take on far more than she can bear to keep the family strong and afloat. Jessie's brother H.J. is too small to really understand the grief that is prevailing in the family. Jessie just wants the dog that her Aunt and Uncle leave behind when they move to California. Jessie spends most of her days trying to capture the dog with food and kindness. It becomes a very important task for her because she just knows the dog will make everything right in her life again. This story touched my heart and left me wanting more. It is a great story of growing up and learning to leave childish things behind. I think this would be a great story to have older elementary students read as part of a lesson on the Great Depression.
August 13, 2016
Oklahoma is in a drought and blowing away. It's the Depression. Jessie's little sister gets pneumonia and dies. Her father withdraws from the world leaving Jessie, her mother and younger brother to try to cope.
This area of Oklahoma has red dirt. The dirt gets in you and makes you strong, maybe even strong enough to face disaster and survive.
Jessie's aunt and uncle join the Okie migration leaving behind a dog named Ring. Jessie wants that half wild dog as much for a companion as a hoped for way to bring her father back from the trance he lives in.
The book is simple as it is for younger readers. It pulls no punches about hard times although these are accepted as the way it is rather than with explanations. It is a young girl facing her fears and hopes, hanging on in spite of the odds.
This is a good introduction for younger readers to a world they will hopefully never know. It is the world faced by their ancestors, the one our world grew out of.
The story is compelling and well written. It is a short, easy read.
This area of Oklahoma has red dirt. The dirt gets in you and makes you strong, maybe even strong enough to face disaster and survive.
Jessie's aunt and uncle join the Okie migration leaving behind a dog named Ring. Jessie wants that half wild dog as much for a companion as a hoped for way to bring her father back from the trance he lives in.
The book is simple as it is for younger readers. It pulls no punches about hard times although these are accepted as the way it is rather than with explanations. It is a young girl facing her fears and hopes, hanging on in spite of the odds.
This is a good introduction for younger readers to a world they will hopefully never know. It is the world faced by their ancestors, the one our world grew out of.
The story is compelling and well written. It is a short, easy read.
April 5, 2009
Coming of age story for a fourteen-year-old girl. Written in 1992 about Oklahoma during the Depression. Such a good story. So believable and so heart-warming. Dad sinks into a depression after losing one of his children. The author's handling of first person was less claustrophobic than so many first person novels I read lately. I loved the details of the setting, too: using the boards from the chicken house for the coffin, what they ate, what they grew in their garden, the stream that wasn’t red like the water further downstream.
September 30, 2014
Red-Dirt Jessie is a good book for kids who love dogs. It also shows what it's like for a child to live with an adult who is depressed. It's the Dust Bowl era in Oklahoma and Jessie's father has fallen silent after the death of one child and the inability to earn a good living during the Great Depression. While Jessie tries to tame a wild dog, she deals with the pain her mother goes through after losing one child to pneumonia and losing her husband to depression. As in all good kids' books, there is hope and a happy ending.
September 30, 2007
Takes place during the Depression out in the Midwest.
Read
February 5, 2009JAR4-Mye
March 19, 2009
it is a really great book!
January 12, 2011
I had to add this book because it was my favorite book in intermediate elementary school and I couldnt find it on the shelves when I taught at that level. Great book.
May 6, 2025
0.5 stars
So so, set in the Great Depression. There's a dog and tragedy.
So so, set in the Great Depression. There's a dog and tragedy.
Read
June 5, 2008its a great book
April 28, 2011
Dust Bowl
Used during PTLS
Talked about characters
Difficult time during the Dust Bowl.
Used during PTLS
Talked about characters
Difficult time during the Dust Bowl.
March 27, 2017
I loved this book! It is the reason I fell in love with reading.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews