Reviews from the Children's Section - Thimble Summer

One of my favorite genres and one that is the easiest for me to push aside is middle grade fiction. This year to make sure I get a little more children's and young adult fiction I thought I would designate the first Monday of every month Middle Grade Monday (though sometimes it doesn't end up working quite right) .  While a lot of my picks this year are classics I am trying to branch out a little bit and read new or at least recent releases.  Today's book is from one of my absolute favorite middle grade authors but one I just read from the first time.

Goodreads:  Thimble Summer by Elizabeth Enright - 

I'm not going to include the blurb and I suggest you skip it if you pick up this book because it's not so much of a blurb as a summery and while nothing that happens is exactly a surprise having it all laid out does spoil it a bit. 

The story itself is pretty simple.  Garnet Linden is a nice girl living on a farm in Wisconsin.  She has a good relationship with her family - with the occasional exception of her brother Jay who can be a bit too older brother-y at times.  The book starts during a massive drought with things looking a bit grim but all that changes when Garnet finds a silver thimble in a dried up river bed.  While the thimble doesn't really feature heavily it does start off a lot of adventures featuring Garnet, her family, and friend Citronella. These are nice stories about nice people and it was just nice to read.  

There is nothing that would bother even the most sensitive of children but I suspect most children would enjoy it.  I think my 10 year old would especially enjoy it as a read aloud and it would be a great bedtime book - interesting but not exciting with a bit of soothing. Like most books from this period I think children today would be amazed by the amount of freedom these children have as well as the amount of responsibility.  It will definitely feature on our reading list in the future.

Elizabeth Enright's books are always a delight and while I probably prefer the Melendy family stories this was such a joy and I'm always glad to go back to an Enright created world.