Excerpt from Dust Bowl Girls by Lydia Reeder, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

But not all was tragic in these wide-open spaces. Country girls like Doll grew up surrounded by endless acres of crops; pasture; and wild, open plains. They ran footraces with coyotes and horses, crawled effortlessly across the wooden beams holding up barn roofs, and created secret tunnels with hay bales. They played alone and with brothers, sisters, cousins, and friends. At night, the stars glistened a brilliant, bleached white in an immense black sky. The only noises were crickets and wind.

Doll couldn't leave her life on the farm. Everyone depended on her. She'd marry a farmer or an oil-rig worker like her sister did and have children of her own. But she also couldn't disappoint Mr. Daily, who had arranged for Mr. Babb to watch her play. So she said, "No, nothing's wrong. Come by tomorrow morning, early." And then she gave Mr. Babb directions to her home.

Excerpted from Dust Bowl Girls by Lydia Reeder. Copyright © 2017 by Lydia Reeder. Excerpted by permission of Algonquin Books. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.