Six Days in October: The Stock Market Crash of 1929

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Blumenthal, Karen. 2002. SIX DAYS IN OCTOBER THE STOCK MARKET CRASH OF 1929 A WALL STREET JOURNAL BOOK. New York,NY: Simon & Schuser Children's Publishing Division.
ISBN13: 9780689842764


PLOT SUMMARY

A book about the most desperate days 1929 those of October.Written about the fabulous fortune that Americans had built in stocks plunged as never seen before. At first it all seemed like a mistake,a problem in the system. But as the decline in the stocks gathered momentum, so did the destruction of the financial foundation of America. Over twenty-five billion dollars in individual wealth was lost completely vanished. People all over America listened to the radio and watched as their dreams faded right before their very eyes. Investing in the stock market would never be the same!
 
CRITICAL ANALYSIS
 
This is a well written account by Karen Blumenthatl, of the six-day period of the darkest days in America. which brought our country to its knees. This book relives the inter working plans of key stock-market players such as; Michael J. Meehan, an immigrant that started his career selling cigars outside theaters one who helped convince thousands to gamble their hard-earned money as never before.It paints the picture of riveting accounts of the power struggles between Wall Street and Washington, to heart wrenching tells of those who lost their life savings and more who could not withstand the allure of stocks and the power of money and greed.
At first I wondered how young readers would be drawn to this book or how they could make connections to something which happened so many years ago. But through the vivid photos and an expressive well written text this era comes alive. Young readers relive the era of stock-market fascination through this engrossing account. Blumenthal explains the stock-market fundamentals while bringing to life the darkest days of the mammoth crash of 1929.

REVIEW EXCERPTS 

Publishers Weekly

This fast-paced, gripping (and all-too-timely) account of the market crash of October 1929 puts a human face on the crisis. Blumenthal, the Dallas bureau chief of the Wall Street Journal, sets the scene in the affluent post-Great War society: she reproduces the famous January 1929 cartoon from Forbes magazine (a frenetic crowd grasping at a ticker tape) and her statement "Executives who had spent their lives building solid reputations cut secret deals in pursuit of their own stock-market riches" may send a shiver down the spines of older readers aware of recent corporate scandals

Booklist

 Gr. 7-12. A Wall Street Journal bureau chief, Blumenthal combines a fascinating overview of the infamous stock market crash in 1929 with a rare and useful primer of financial basics.


CONNECTIONS

Social Studies
This text can be used as a themactic unit in Social Studies for ESL students to help them understand the depression of 1929 for U. S. History.

Oracle’s Education Foundation, ThinkQuest an interactive site devoted to educating children on the stock market, savings bonds and investment saving.

http://library.thinkquest.org/3096/