Tallgrass

By: Sandra Dallas

Narrated by: Lorelei King

Length: 8 hrs and 25 mins

Publisher's summary

During World War II, a family finds life turned upside-down when the government opens a Japanese internment camp in their small Colorado town. After a young girl is murdered, all eyes turn on the newcomers. Rennie has just turned thirteen and until this time, life has pretty much been predictable and fair. But the winds of change are coming, and with them, a shift in her perspective and a discovery of secrets that can destroy even the most sacred things. Part thriller, part historical novel, Tallgrass by Sandra Dallas is a riveting exploration of the darkest—and best—parts of the human heart.

©2007 Sandra Dallas (P)2007 Audio Renaissance, a division of Holtzbrinck Publishers, LLC

Critic reviews

• Audie Award Winner, Fiction, 2008

“A compelling and genuinely moving novel.” —Jennifer Chiaverini, author of Circle of Quilters

“Sandra Dallas is a true American Voice.” —Gail Tsukiyama, author of Dreaming Water

“The sweep of the Great Plains, the tensions of World War II that rift a small community and the remarkable cast of characters are all heartbreakingly real.” —Margaret Coel, author of The Drowning Man

A History Lesson about Japanese Internment Camps

In this time it is so difficult to understand why our government would have sent thousands of American citizens of Japanese ancestry to internment camps. Why didn't we do the same with Germans? Was it because Germans looked like us? Unanswerable questions - it was a different time, and a different world. Wonderful historical fiction story, fully-fleshed characters. Worth a listen.

Good read and story.

I found the story well written and the characters were so well developed. I will be reading more books by Sandra Dallas. I also thought the narrator was perfect.

Wonderful Book

There was nothing I disliked about this book. The characters and the story meshed so well. I loved the personalities and the language. The narrator was perfect.

Powerful history

Being of Japanese ancestry, I am drawn to books about the internment of Japanese Americans during WWII. This book offers another viewpoint, as experienced by a farm community in Colorado. I really appreciated the descriptions of the attitudes of the rural community, which arose out of a visceral fear of the unknown and a response to the rampant propaganda of the time. The narrator is perfect for this story. Her voice exemplifies the matter-of-fact sensibilities of farmers in middle America.

Close to home...

With an internment camp just about 60 miles away from us in Arkansas, and the history of it so familiar here, this was a special treat to us. We loved this novel because it opened the lives up in the history of places like this. A great story and slightly different from some of her other novels...this one was close to home in time and geography, and also in comparison to issues today with cultural stigmas.

Boring

Very predictable and boring story line. Skip this one.

just ok

This was billed as a mystery novel, but lacks one key element of a good mystery--there is no way for the reader to figure out "who did it" until it's revealed at the end. I don't like this kind of revelatory ending. The main characters are thoughtfully written and compelling, but the plot was a bit thin.

Disappointing

Poorly written with a shallow plot. If you've read much WWII history, the characters are not very believable. Silly writing mistakes, such as a character hanging up laundry when the author describes the weather as below zero and snowing. Finally in the post book interview the author compares the Japanese internment camps to Guantanamo. A ridiculous comparison and serious insult to Japanese-Americans.

not great!

I really struggled to finish. Didn't care for the narrator-very boring voice. The writing was only ok. Scene explanations were often the same like snowy boots leaving a melted puddle on the floor-duh. I don't recommend this book.