That Wild Berries Should Grow
-
- $5.99
-
- $5.99
Publisher Description
In the depths of the Depression, a young girl goes to live in the country
Although the Depression has destroyed Detroit's economy, Elsa cannot imagine living anywhere else. She loves her friends, her family, and the hustle and bustle of the great industrial city. But when a mysterious illness forces her to miss half of fifth grade, her parents take drastic action and send her to stay with her grandmama to heal. Not just for a week. Not just for a month. For the entire summer.
Elsa is frightened of her stern German grandmother and doesn't think she could ever feel at home in the peaceful Michigan countryside. The nights are too quiet and the days are too boring, and she has nothing to amuse herself with except her journal. But as the Lake Huron summer wears on, Elsa learns to take joy in empty places and live for the beauty of nature.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In 1933, Elsa and her parents are suffering through the Depression. Her father has been unemployed for months, and she herself has been so ill that she's missed half of fifth grade. The family decides that Elsa will leave Detroit and spend the summer with her grandparents in the country. The girl dislikes the arrangement--for one thing, Grandmamma always seems so stern--and initially she feels homesick and misses city amusements. She takes up poetry (samples of which begin each chapter), and gradually grows to appreciate nature's sweet wonders--and her kind-hearted relatives. Whelan's lightweight story has little plot, although it touches on serious themes. Economic hardships are widespread, as is ethnic prejudice: Elsa's (Christian) grandparents, who emigrated from Germany well before WW I, describe being victimized and labeled anti-American during that war; one of Elsa's country friends refers to Grandpapa as a Kraut; Grandpapa and Grandmamma worry constantly for Jewish friends still in Berlin. But even with the political subplots, this novel may be too mild to sustain the attention of the intended audience. Ages 10-up.
