On the Road

Can you imagine life in the 1930s? In Flint, Michigan, most of the people in the community are poor and struggling to eat. The book is set during the Great Depression, a time when it was common to see a mile-long line of people waiting to get free food at missions or other food kitchens. It was a time when people were tense, stressed out, and searching for a way to survive. There weren't enough jobs to go around, so people couldn't make money to buy food. On top of that, there was a lot less food being grown due to the Dust Bowl. Many people moved west looking for labor jobs—that's where Bud thinks he should go, too, but things don't work out that way.