Summer Days at the Five and Dime

Summer Days at the Five and Dime is a memoir in verse about growing up in

post-World War II central Wisconsin, when summer days stretched wide and

children belonged to the streets, the woods, and each other. Set in 1950s and 1960s

small-town America, this coming-of-age story captures a Midwestern childhood

shaped by freedom, family, and friendship. As the poems move into adulthood

and aging, memory reveals resilience, gratitude, and the enduring pull of place. For

readers who cherish nostalgic memoir, women's life writing, Midwestern memoir,

coming-of-age stories, and baby boomer childhood refl ections, this lyrical poetry

memoir explores how we begin and how we carry those beginnings forward.