Marshfield Memories: More Stories About Growing Up

by Ralph Fletcher

Overview

A heartfelt middle grade companion to Marshfield Dreams that captures the boyhood years of twelve-year-old Ralph Fletcher in relatable episodes of everyday disappointments and triumphs.

As the oldest of nine kids, Ralph was often cast as another parent to his siblings rather than as an older brother; teetering between these two conflicting roles, Ralph longed to be home alone on a sick day, but hated the emptiness of feeling left behind. He loved to play sports with his neighborhood friends but resented the skillful victories of his younger brother. Thrust into the expectations of impending adolescence, Ralph was curious about girls, but embarrassed to take part in the school square dance. This satisfying memoir offers a snapshot of those pivotal moments between grade school and high school, all while tracing the roots of Ralph Fletcher's acclaimed storytelling.

Christy Ottaviano Books

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781250801807
Publisher:	Square Fish
Publication date:	11/16/2021
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	5.47(w) x 8.17(h) x 0.47(d)
Age Range:	9 - 14 Years

About the Author

Ralph Fletcher is the author of a wide range of books for young readers from picture books through novels, including Marshfield Memories, Marshfield Dreams, Guy-Write, and The Sandman. He also teaches workshops on poetry and writing. Mr. Fletcher lives with his family in Lee, New Hampshire

Editorial Reviews

"Like the mock funeral his friends gave him when he and his family moved away from Marshfield, readers will find these reminiscences "sad, funny, a little weird, and very sweet." Engaging episodes, not beyond the ken of the current generation and lit with just enough sentiment to give them a warm glow." --Kirkus Reviews

"Fletcher relates more stories about growing up in a large, close-knit family in the 1960s in this winsome sequel to Marshfield Dreams . . . Fletcher loved writing poetry but struggled to make his "words fly." They take flight now in this lovingly written, humorous, and poignant memoir about a gentler time." -- Booklist

From the Publisher

2018-09-30

A second set of childhood memories from the author of Marshfield Dreams (2005)—these spun around the feeling of being an "in-betweener" in his family as eldest of eight (later nine) siblings.

Fletcher opens with an elaborate neighborhood map ("Marshfield was my Middle-earth," he writes) and goes on in short chapters to recall the pleasures—and sometimes tribulations—of being a Boy Scout, playing marbles, joining a muddy scramble to gather a bucket full of frogs, having the house to himself for a day, getting a pocket transistor radio, and like treasured moments around age 10. Other memories, such as learning that a Sunday school acquaintance who shared his love for chocolate Necco Wafers had died and seeing his school bus driver Ruben Gonsalves silently watch his son get slapped (wondering since if the 1964 incident would have even happened in his "white town…but for the color of their skin"), spark more complex responses. In an epilogue he tallies other less halcyon memories, capped by the later death of a brother covered in greater detail in the previous volume. Still, like the mock funeral his friends gave him when he and his family moved away from Marshfield, readers will find these reminiscences "sad, funny, a little weird, and very sweet."

Engaging episodes, not beyond the ken of the current generation and lit with just enough sentiment to give them a warm glow. (Memoir. 9-11)

Kirkus Reviews