To Janey Larkin, the blue willow plate was the most beautiful thing in
her life, a symbol of the home she could only dimly remember. Now that
her father was an itinerant worker, Janey didn't have a home she could
call her own or any real friends, as her family had to keep moving,
following the crops from farm to farm. Someday, Janey promised the
willow plate, with its picture of a real house, her family would once
again be able to set down roots in a community.
Blue Willow is an important fictional account of the Dust Bowl and the
Great Depression, and has been called The Grapes of Wrath for
children. It won a Newbery Honor and many other awards.