No Promises in the Wind

Irene Hunt is a prominent American writer who wrote primarily for children’s and young adult audience. The remarkable feature of her style of writing is a presence of historical details which help to create a unique atmosphere of her works. Hunt represents a historical fiction genre. I. Hunt was born in Illinois in 1907, in the family of Sarah and Franklin Hunt (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). When her father died, she was a seven-year old girl. The family moved to a farm where she spent the rest of her childhood.

Her grandfather’s tails about the Civil war period had a great influence on a child’s imagination and, probably, influenced her style of writing. In 1939, I. Hunt graduated the University of Illinois, and in 1946, she received her Master degree in the University of Minnesota, and continued her study at the University of Colorado (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). For 15 years, Hunt worked as a teacher of French and English in a public school, and then in the University of South Dakota where she taught psychology. In 1965, Hunt decided to come back to Illinois where she has spent most of her life.

Irene Hunt received many awards including American Notable Book Award and a Newbery Medal. The most interesting fact is that Hunt published her first book in 1964 only, when she was about 57 years old. The first book called “Across Five Aprils”. The other two books are “Up a Road Slowly” and “No Promises in the Wind”. Hunt has a unique style that appeals to children and adults. To convey a message of the stories, Hunt appeals to emotions of readers and their imagination using specific techniques and different stylistics devices (metaphors, comparison, etc).

It is possible to say that Hunt is a keen observer of people, historical and war events which is manifested in her style. The most important is that she feels what children need supposing that even “the troubled child will often receive the message in a good book that he cannot accept from an adult” (Biography: Hunt Irena, n. d. ). In the book “No Promises in the Wind”, Hunt depicts the period of the Great Depression and struggle of population to survive. The main characters of the book, Joey and Josh, are two brothers who leave their home in Chicago looking for better life.

The narrator, Josh, tells that: “the year 1932 was not good one in which to be fifteen years old and in close quarters with a hopeless father” (Hunt, p. 4). Feels that his father does not love him and understanding that there is no enough food for the whole family, he starts his journey with his friend Howie and little brother Joey. Great love to music is the main thing which joins Howie and Josh. Two friends decided Howie could play his banjo to earn for leaving, while Josh is looking for a job.

During their journey, they are faced with casualties of life suffering form the lost of their friend, Howie. The most impressive thing in the story is their struggle for existence and food. Hunt depicts that a hunger was the most terrible thing for people during recession. In this novel, she portrays the futility of sufferings of people who are still alive, but know that hunger is “around the corner”. The message of this story is that fight is senseless bringing only grief and constant tension. Then, the brothers meet a man, Lonnie, who helps them to find a job and earn for leaving.

Suddenly, Josh becomes sick, and someone who found Lonnie’ address in his pocket brought Josh to Lonnie. For a long time, they cannot find Joey, and when Joey appears the brothers decide to back home. The story appeals to me very much depicting very interesting and discrepant historical period. I like the characters of the story who are courageous enough to escape from home and start new life. In spite of all the negative life lessons two brothers understand what it is to be an individual, because it is the only way for them to survive during Depression.

At the end of the story, Hunt creates a strict ethical code which functions as the defense against the overwhelming chaos of economic instability. This book is very impressive depicting real life situations and struggle for survival. Hunt depicts growing-up of the boys during the depression period and described events which caused their maturing. References 1. “Biography: Hunt Irena”. Educational Paperback Association. (N. d). Available at: http://www. edupaperback. org/showauth. cfm? authid=82 2. Hunt, I. (2002). No Promises in the Wind. Berkley.