Maybe since this book was meant for YA, and I'm way past that, is the reason that I just didn't enjoy this book as much as I usually enjoy a Lansdale story. The writing was fine, the plot just didn't grab me. ( )

All the Earth, Thrown to the Sky by Joe R. Lansdale is a YA novel that takes place during the Dust Bowl Depression in the mid-1930s. Jack Catcher’s parents have died, his mother from lung disease and his father from suicide. When neighbours Jane and Tony Lewis show up and explain that they have also become orphans, the trio decide to head out to East Texas to look for relatives of Jane and Tony. Their trip takes a downward turn when they have a run in with a couple of gangsters. They learn that these two criminals are on their way to kill Strangler, a former gang member who stole their loot and plans to get his crippled daughter an operation. Jack, Jane and Tony decide they must warn Strangler of the danger he is in. Along the way they encounter all types of people, learn new skills, and many life lessons about honesty, common sense, and best of all, Jack learns how to have hope for the future again.

All The Earth, Thrown to the Sky was a fun road trip adventure. The author keeps the story moving at a brisk pace and paints a vivid picture of Depression-era Oklahoma/Texas along the way. I found this book to be a great read with a good balance of humor, suspense and information. The characters are likeable and easy to root for, and I particularly liked Jane who always embellishes her stories and isn’t afraid to speak up and say what she thinks. Long after my memory of this story fades, I believe I will remember this tough, brave, cheeky young lady. ( )

Jack Catcher's parents are dead—his mom died of sickness and his dad of a broken heart—and he has to get out of Oklahoma, where dust storms have killed everything green, hopeful, or alive. When former classmate Jane and her little brother Tony show up in his yard with plans to steal a dead neighbor's car and make a break for Texas, Jack doesn't need much convincing. But a run-in with one of the era's most notorious gangsters puts a crimp in Jane's plan, and soon the three kids are hitching the rails among hoboes, gangsters, and con men, racing to warn a carnival wrestler turned bank robber of the danger he faces and, in the process, find a new home for themselves. This road trip adventure from the legendary Joe R. Lansdale is a thrilling and colorful ride through Depression-era America.

This is a wonderful romp of a book. ( )

YA from Lansdale, a hugely readable Depression era adventure that sees three Oklahoma orphans steal a dead man's car and set out to find somewhere, anywhere better. The discipline imposed by the YA tag makes Lansdale's prose and storytelling gifts shine, but adult readers will miss the profanity and violence, and their absence here serves to remind that in a Lansdale book, they might be crude and nasty but they are never gratuitous. ( )

Ho cominciato a leggerlo nel pomeriggio e quando sono arrivato a pagina 160 ho dovuto sospendere la lettura perché mi hanno trascinato a cenare...alla sera a letto ho spento la luce solo quando l'ho finito e mi sono riletto le ultime pagine. Non vi dico null'altro!!! ( )