Surviving Depression: A Review of Every Day After

The long recession and weak recovery have kindled interest in the Great Depression and the ways that families responded to sudden economic deprivation nearly a century ago. Laura Golden’s new middle grade novel Every Day After (Delacorte) mines the author’s family stories to present a vivid portrait of small town life in the South during this period. The novel, however, goes beyond period piece to explore the broader theme of how a self-centered girl learns how the world works and how to be a friend.

Until the past year, sixth grader Lizzie Hawkins had an idyllic life, fishing with her father and hanging out with her neighbor and best friend, Ben Butler. Then, Lizzie’s father lost his job. Although he has always told Lizzie to work hard and be the best, he has now abandoned his family in shame, and Lizzie’s mother has fallen into a deep depression. Taking care of the household chores, her mother, and the mending her mother did to bring in money has caused Lizzie’s grades to drop, and Erin, the class bully rejoices in Lizzie’s downfall. Erin has even stolen Ben as a friend. To make things worse, Erin knows about Lizzie’s mother’s illness and threatens to report the family to the authorities so that Lizzie will be sent to an orphanage in another town.

To save her mother, her home, and herself, Lizzie gets a job, which makes it harder to hide her mother from the authorities. Her self-centered attitude over the years—for instance, showing little concern for the fact that Ben’s father has recently died and the Butlers are losing their home—has cost her the allies she needs to stay out of the orphanage. But the one lesson she has learned from her father—the one he couldn’t put into practice himself—is never give up. Despite her realistically portrayed character flaws, Lizzie gains the readers sympathy because of her persistence and, ultimately, her willingness to admit her errors and change her ways. The wide range of supporting characters—friends, villains, and quirky bit players—give texture to the Alabama town and add humorous plot twists to an otherwise serious story,