The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
The Viking Press, Inc., 1939
ISBN: 0-14-200066-3

Plot Summary:
The Grapes of Wrath begins with Tom Joad walking home after being released from prison, where he was at for killing a man. Along the way, he meets Jim Casy, his former preacher who says he has lost his calling. When they arrive at what used to be Tom's house, the find it abandoned. The next day they find the family as they are packing up to head to California. They have nothing left to keep them where they are, and heard there are plenty of jobs out West.

The group consists of Ma and Pa Joad, Tom Joad and Casy the preacher, Rose of Sharon and her husband Connie, Granma and Granpa Joad, Noah Joad, Al Joad, Uncle John, and two children, Ruthie and Winfield. They take Granma and Granpa against their wishes, both of whom end up dying on the journey out. When the reach a river after days of travel, Noah decides he can't continue and stays there when the family leaves. Connie also abandons the family and his pregnant wife along the way.

Upon reaching their first Hooverville, Tom and Casy get caught up in a fight with some police, and Casy takes all the blame and is sent to prison, since Tom is still on parole. The family leaves and get to a much nicer camp with running water, and a self-governing philosophy. They stay there for about a month, but are not able to get any work, so they have to move on. The come to a peach farm and have to drive through protesters to get to the gates. After walking out of the camp one night, Tom meets Casy, who has been organizing the protest. He learns that they are strike-breakers. Anti-union men come to break up the meeting and end up shooting Casy dead and breaking Tom's nose.

The next day, the family moves out of the peach farm and eventually lands a decent gig picking cotton. They even have their own boxcar to live in. Soon enough though, it starts raining and won't stop. Rose of Sharon gives birth to a stillborn baby. The family has to move out or get flooded out by the rising river. They come to a barn and find a boy and his starving father inside. Rose of Sharon decides to let him feed from her breast, since she has no one to give her milk to now.

Critical Evaluation:
This novel is at once devastating and uplifting. The Joads experience one horrific event after another--and yet they keep on going. They find strength the never knew they had. The plain language makes this an easy read, but the themes are complex. The characters struggle with faith and demons. They have been warned all their lives about the evils of communism, but put in a situation where they see how unions would make their lives better, they struggle with what to do. Ma Joad becomes the head of the family, and the once selfish Rose of Sharon helps give life to a stranger. The reader does not know what becomes of the Joads after they find the barn, but they've struggled this far, we want to believe they will continue on.

Reader’s Annotation:
The Joads thought they were escaping drought and famine when they left their homes in Oklahoma for jobs in California. Little did they know, the worst was yet to come.

Information about the Author:
John Steinbeck is one of the most celebrated American authors in history, winning both a Pulitzer and Nobel Prize. He was born in Salinas, California in 1902. He attended Stanford, but he often pursued work as a laborer in the Salinas Valley. Even after gaining success and celebrity as a writer, he would work with migrants on farms. He died in 1968.

Genre: historical fiction

Curriculum Ties: 11th grade English and American History

Booktalking Ideas:
I would talk about the Joad's situation in Oklahoma and why they left thinking there would be work for them in California. I would describe some of the heartbreaking and violent experiences they have on the road and in the Hoovervilles and talk about their struggle finding work and keeping the family together.

Reading Level/Interest Age:
This book is easy to read, but is long and would probably only hold the attention of older teens, 16 and up.

Challenge Issues:
This book might be challenged for its negative portrayal of business owners and its perceived socialist underlying theme. There is some frank talk of sexuality and questioning faith as well. I would explain the library's selection policy and the book's status as a classic, and give the challenger a complaint form to fill out.

Why I chose this book:
I chose this book because I remembered enjoying it when I was seventeen, and it has held up with this second reading. The current state of our economy also got me thinking about the Joads and how much worse they had it.