Newbery Medal winner Carol Ryrie Brink uses vignettes of people she knew during her childhood in Idaho to give a glimpse of everyday life in the early twentieth century and to provide insight into her own tragic early years. This evocative and ultimately uplifting memoir is read by veteran narrators Emily Eiden, Nora Hunter, Susan C. Hunter and a full cast of the author's descendants and family members. Brink fans will recognize the real-life inspirations for many of the characters in her novels, especially her grandmother, Caroline Watkins (Gram), whose tales of her own childhood provided the basis for Brink's best-loved book, CADDIE WOODLAWN.
No one would accuse eleven-year-old Caddie Woodlawn of being dainty and ladylike. In spite of her mother's best efforts, Caddie is as wild as the wind, playing freely and rambunctiously with her two brothers in the Wisconsin backwoods. There are rafts to build, and trees to climb, and pranks to play. Caddie especially likeds to watch her friend Indian John build birchbark canoes at the river. Everyday seems wide with possibility-as wide as the frontier. But living on the edge of civilization has its risks, too. And when Indians threaten to attack the settlers, it is Caddie's resourcefulness and bravery that save the day. The author, Carol Ryrie Brink-granddaughter of the real Caddie Woodlawn-based her book on the true stories her grandmother used to tell her about growing up on the frontier.
