The Elderberry Thicket

by Joan T. Zeier

In 1938 Wisconsin, when twelve-year-old Franny's father loses his job as a hired hand and has to go looking for work, the family members doubt their self-reliance as they face again the hard times they had hoped were gone for good.

154 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 1990

About the author

Although she enjoys traveling, Joan Theresa Freilinger Zeier's roots are firmly entangled in the rocks and woodlands of central Wisconsin, where she has spent most of her life. Her ambition since childhood was to be a writer. However, she also wanted to marry and have a big family. So writing was put "on hold" for a while, as she and her husband, Gerald, raised their nine energetic children. During her reign as den mother, troop leader, classroom volunteer, church worker, musician, and full-time mom, Joan wrote only brief paragraphs and short poems. But as the nest began to empty, she refilled it by studying her chosen craft. After some successes with poetry, short fiction, and nonfiction, surprise! She found herself writing for children.

Reviews

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

A sweet story about a family in Wisconsin in the 1930s. The main character, Franny, is a 12-year-old who is figuring out how the world works and how she wants to view it. Great wholesome book.

[Miss Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

gr 5-8 154 pgs.


1938. farm Wisconsin. 12 year old Franny Parsons had always liked the Cooper family until they fired her father who worked as their hired man. How could they give his job to some nephew that they barely knew! Now her father must leave home to look for work and nothing is the same. Franny is determined not to like "Smokey" Manning, the Coopers' nephew...

Great story