Thimble Summer is set in the 1930s, the time of the Great Depression and the drought that afflicted many midwestern states. Eric is Enright's vehicle for introducing some of the horrors of the era. Readers may be interested to know that many people rode railroad boxcars the way Eric does and that hawking goods on the street was common. The drought made the tough times even worse for farmers, and many families lost everything they owned.

Thus, the opening chapter of Thimble Summer presented to readers in 1938 a dark and fearful reality. Thimble Summer may help generate discussions of what life in the 1930s Midwest was like.

An issue that parents and teachers will want to discuss with readers of Thimble Summer is Garnet's hitchhiking. Although the story of Mrs. Eberhardt's girlhood adventure creates some suspense by suggesting that running away may have serious consequences&mdash...