A Summer in Leslie Goldthwaite's Life

Fifteen-year-old Leslie Goldthwaite studies maps and imagines the lives tucked into small towns beside rivers and hills. At home, her older cousin Delight helps turn everyday talk toward questions of character and purpose. Leslie welcomes a moral until it seems directed at her, a tension that gives this story of girlhood its personal edge. A. D. T. Whitney sets her summer experiences within a Christian concern for how a young person can become useful to others.

The book makes that concern concrete through small acts of care. Leslie brings Prissy, a child with hearing loss, a parcel from Miss Craydocke containing Grimm's tales and flower seeds. Prissy's aunt describes how this friend has taught the girl to read and encouraged her interest in flowers and rocks. Readers interested in older stories of friendship and growing up will find domestic conversation, outdoor interests and a close look at the difference thoughtful attention can make.