What is the theme in The Corn Grows Ripe by Dorothy Rhoads?

One major theme of this book is adolescence. Tigre begins the book as a child. He is selfish, thinking only about what is good for him. He is lazy and does not help the family with chores. When Father gets injured, Tigre must take over the role of the man of the house. Tigre is 12 years old, right at the beginning stage of adolescence. He must make a choice. Either he stays a selfish boy or moves onto adolescence by preparing and planting the cornfield. He chooses the latter. Tigre sees what a man's work is. He understands how hard his father works. Additionally, Tigre must attend school lessons after work. He takes on the role of an adult as he works and studies.