Review by Booklist Review
From the voluminous correspondence addressed to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, Cohen has culled nearly 200 letters penned by children. Poignant, heartfelt, and brimming with childlike faith, these missives represent a portion of the population often overlooked by historians eager to capture the heart and soul of Depression America. Viewed as a champion of the poor, the oppressed, and the helpless, Eleanor Roosevelt was beloved by legions of poverty-stricken children and teenagers, who reached out to her in record-setting numbers. Nearly every letter contains a plea for economic or material assistance, reflecting the physical and psychological burdens and fears visited upon the vast majority of American youth during their formative years in the 1930s. Perhaps even more bittersweet than the letters themselves, is the fact that Eleanor Roosevelt was unable to personally answer or address the individual problems described in such vivid and heartbreaking detail. A priceless primary resource for both amateur historians and Depression scholars. --Margaret Flanagan
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
