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5 comments about A Twig Grows in Springdale.

1. Why is it that when we reach our 50s and beyond there is a certain longing for the past? Perhaps, this nostalgic craving is due to our desire to slow down time.

   Eviatar Zerubavel, a cognitive sociologist at Rutgers University, in his book Social Mindscape, made the following observation: "we all live in remembrance environments and mnemonic communities. These mental landscapes, constructed from shared feeling about the past, determine how we think about ourselves and our place in history."

   In other words, people will come to know us by the memories we share with others and in turn we shall know ourselves.
   It is with this in mind that I was able to appreciate first time novelist Al Michaud's A Twig in Springdale.

   Using short literary descriptive sketches or vignettes, Michaud narrates his many fond memories he has of growing up during the time of the depression years in the small village of Springdale, Connecticut.

   We learn about the schools the author attended and the teachers who had a made deep and lasting impressions. It was a time when male teachers were a rarity, and as he states: "teaching was rigid, warm, educational and productive."

   Various ailments would lead to the usage of such cure all medications as Vicks Vapor Rub or Chicken soup. People were not immune from tragedies that resulted in death such as trolley accidents, appendicitis, pneumonia, car wrecks, and fires. However, they did not seem to be big events, as life seemed to go on without any lasting impression, even when one the author's schoolmates was crushed to death by a steam roller in the school yard-"We watched in silence. The police came. The ambulance came. Mr. McCall rang the bell and we all went to class."

   You were not too concerned about the latest in clothing fashions, electronic gadgets, or the endless "goodies" children today enjoy, as money was scarce, you just had to make do with whatever you had.

   Although Michaud's writing focuses on memorabilia of life during the depression years, his personal reflections will surely bring back memories for those of us who were born after during the 40s and 50s, as is the case with myself.
   His style is straight- forward and at times sentimental coming across as a very human and down to earth individual.
   Readers will be pulled in from the very first few pages and I am sure they will find a bit of their own "Springdale," wherever they may have grown up.

   Norm Goldman Editor Bookpleasures




2. A Twig grows in Springdale is in the author's own words, "A simple patchwork of ordinary things, ordinary people and tiny ordinary happenings." It is the recollections of childhood during a simpler time- a time when money was scarce, family values were strong and our freedoms were threatened. Author Al Michaud takes us on a sentimental journey to the days of mothers in aprons with flour covered hands, fathers searching for work and kids who used their imaginations to create worlds of fantasy and excitement.

   Each chapter is a snippet of life during the great Depression from the author's point of view with lovable characters that everyone can relate to. The people and happenings in Springdale helped to shape the lives of countless children who look back with fond memories of "Days gone by."

   A wonderful book of memories for grandparents to read to their grandchildren or for those in their golden years to be reminded of the "Good Old Days." Teachers would find this book helpful in relating life in the thirties and forties to students who live in an age of computers, video games and fast food. Each chapter is a story in itself making it a nice light read for a sunny afternoon.
   Reviewer: Shirley Roe, Allbooks Reviews




3. Rebeccasreads recommends A TWIG GROWS IN SPRINGDALE as a treasure trove of stories, rather like your Grandmother's hope chest. Take it down, open it up anywhere & travel back to a time when the future is a distant thing & where everyday life is so much more important.

   Like an ancient family photo album, Al Michaud fills his with remembrances & impressions, written in snapshots & vignettes, some a hundred or so words, others a couple of pages long, penned in a storytelling rhythm, of a time when sliced bread was a novelty, coal was king, homework unknown, all immigrants wanted to learn English & become Americans, & Springdale, a small southern New England town, was the center of his universe.




4. Reading Al Michaud's book of reminiscences, A Twig Grows in Springdale, is like taking a trip backward in time. The time was the Great Depression, which coincided with his early boyhood, but in spite of the lack of money-possibly because of it-his was a happy boyhood.
   The place was a small New England town, Springdale, where we meet the colorful characters who peopled his world. Money may have been in short supply, but there was always enough for food, and though threadbare, clothes enough to keep them warm. And to add to the richness of a life of simple pleasures in Springdale were the years during the polio epidemic when the family spent the summers with friends on their farm in the mountains. There more adventures helped bend the Twig, and the reader is the lucky spectator. A good read.



5. I was born on Hope Street and lived in Springdale for most of my
   life. Al Michaud brings back many wonderful memories of growing
   up. "A Twig Grows in Springdale" is a good read for anyone who
   grew up in a small town or wished that they did.
   You get the feeling that we were richer then, with or without
   Con Lund's dimes.
   Thanks for the memories! Al.
   
   Marilyn Seaman Ritchie

2 comments about The Making of a Patriot: France 1926-45.

1. From start to finish, this personal memoir of a young man, coming of age during World War II provides the lucky reader with a first-hand account of what it was like for average person in Nazi-occupied France.

   It is the story of Bernard LePrince, his family and friends, first, as they lived before the war, running a small cafe which was the center of social life in their town, and how their spirit, love, family and resilience were tested once France was under Nazi occupation.

   It is a story of indomitable spirit and moral victory, as small acts of defiance provided the courage to face another day, and created a patriotic spirit which Mr. LePrince carries with him to this day.

   It is simply written, yet full of descriptive detail, making the reader feel part of that time and hopeful that we would have behaved the same way in those circumstances.




2. Mr. Leprince is a proud Frenchman who has lived in the United States for over 40 years. His story about the years under Nazi occupation is a fascinating account and well worth it. A good read especially in these irrational times.

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