Synopses & Reviews
1944. Wartime.
A six-year-old boy goes to spend the summer with his grandmother Alida in a small town near the Canadian border. With the men all gone off to fight, the women are left to run the farms. Theres plenty for the boy to dotrying to help with the chores, getting to know the dog, and the horses, cows, pigs, and chickens.
But when his cousin Kristina goes into labor, he cant do a thing. Instead, the house fills with women come to help and to wait, and to work on a quilt together. This is no common, everyday quilt, but one that contains all the stories of the boys family. The quilt tells the truth, past and future: of happiness, courage, and pain; of the greatest joy, and the greatest loss. And as they wait, the women share these memorable stories with the boy.
About the Author
Gary Paulsen is the author of more than 100 books, among them the bestselling Brians Winter, The River, Brians Return, and Brians Hunt. He divides his time between a ranch in New Mexico and his boat on the Pacific Ocean.
Author Q&A
author fun factsBorn: May 17 in Minneapolis, Minnesota
Previous jobs: Farm hand, ranch hand, truck driver, sailor, dogsled racer, teacher, field engineer, editor, soldier, actor, director, trapper, professional archer, migrant farm worker, singer
Hobbies: Sailing, collecting and riding Harley Davidsons; twice ran the Iditarod, the challenging 1,000 mile dogsled race across Alaska
Inspiration for writing: After a librarian gave him a book to read--along with his own library card--Gary was hooked. He began spending hours alone in the basement of his apartment building, reading one book after another.