Publisher's Synopsis
IS BEING POOR A STATE OF MIND? "We didn't know we were poor," says Alice, a child of the 1930s, and the youngest of eleven children, as she tells of growing up in the small rural community of Townsend Harbor, in Massachusetts. She relates the ups and downs of a large family in the hard times of the Depression and WWII years, when "going without" was an accepted and necessary way of life. Her vignettes are sure to provide the young readers with insight, disbelief and awe, while provoking fond (and not so fond) memories for the older readers. The author tells, with humor, about being raised in the years when entertainment was "self-made" and captures the reader's interest when relating stories about growing up in a home without a bathroom or, in her early years, running water. She brings to them the childhood fantasies she experienced when making the scary trips to the "two-holer" at the end of the long, poorly lit shed, and the "abominable cellar" where the food was stored. She tells of her fear, as she had to, reluctantly; reach her hand into "the cave" where the creepy, shriveled, stringy-haired things grew. Visit the home where the father ruled with caring, strictness and firm discipline, and the mother made things seem better with hugs and home-baked pies. Share the joy of semi-annually receiving a new pair of shoes or discovering a "musical mousetrap" in the back room off the kitchen. Learn of the warmth, love and squabbles that were shared with ten brothers and sisters, in spite of the hard times. High shoes and Bloomers is truly a book for all ages to enjoy.
