WELCOME
A young person’s novel that has found a sentimental place in the hearts of many older adults. The Grove harkens back to a time when youth faced the pangs of puberty and socialization with their peers away from the prying eyes of parents in a world before the advent of isolating technology.
Set in 1960’s southern California’s Orange County when thousands of acres of orange trees grew alongside eucalyptus lined streets, youngsters could find adventure hidden among the huge expanse of groves. But secrets don’t reside only there. Within the main character’s home a parent hides their own troubles from their children or so they thought.
The joys of escaping into the natural world, creating your own fun and balancing the difficulties of parental alcoholism permeate the book. Who to trust? Friends or foe? The decisions that young people make today under even more trying circumstances.
“A perspicacious view of the transformative coming of age
process in 1960’s America.”
—Bill Kelly—
Retired Middle School Teacher