The Setting: Salinas Valley, California – 1930s

Recommended Grade Level: 8–12

Suggested Area of Study and Discussion: The Novels of John Steinbeck: East of Eden, The Grapes of Wrath, The Pearl; The Great Depression; The Homeless in America; Racism and Poverty in America

The Story:  Travel with George and Lennie, two of the most unforgettable characters in American Literature, through this beautiful tale of friendship, loneliness and the longing for home. Bound by a promise George made to care for the developmentally disabled Lennie, these oddly matched friends scratch out a living during the Great Depression by traveling from ranch to ranch as itinerant farm hands, sustained only by their dream of one day buying a ranch of their own.

Treat your students to this literary masterpiece by America’s renowned “Poet of the Dispossessed”. John Steinbeck’s passionate social realism ignites current issues of unemployment, homelessness and poverty and will give you meaty material for classroom discussion.