Fourteen-year-old Oklahoma farm boy Jacob Brewster and his family struggle to survive the Dust Bowl and the Great Depression. One day, with their panhandle sky darkened by clouds of dust, and the ground parched and lifeless beneath their feet, Jacob and his younger brother Daniel yield to the temptation of confronting one of the dust devils that tauntingly roam the barren fields of their farm. In the heat of the battle, Jacob suddenly discovers that he has the strength and courage to stand toe-to-toe with his whirling adversary. But he would never, in his wildest dreams, imagine how severely his strength and courage would be tested by family tragedy, a war, and the conquest of an inherited personal demon that lived deep within his soul. "Put a Nickel on the Drum" is a poignant, moving, adventure-filled story that will keep you riveted to the pages. It's a love story on many levels, at a time in history when love took a back-seat to the fundamental objective of survival...an era that left little time or capacity in one's heart for seeking, or finding, emotional fulfillment in a loving bond with another. Simply existing and providing for one's family was the paramount goal of the time. In many cases there were those, in an effort to compensation for the hardships of the period, turned to artificial means to find peace and solace. Many times, the paths they took could have easily lead them down a path of self-destruction, and for all too many, it did. But then there were others who were committed to stand in the way of that happening. In many ways, "Put a Nickel on the Drum" is a story about those who wandered away from the path, and about those that helped bring them back again.