miracles on maple hill by virginia sorensen

Chris teaches Joe and Marly much about the beauty of the country around them. They've arrived during sugaring season and right away get to see how maple sap becomes syrup, with Mr. Chris and his wife, Chrissie, are good neighbors and good friends - as much to the kids as to the parents. The house is run down and overrun with mice when they arrive and the family sets about restoring order.

Hopefully this will help Dale, who isn't very social, to recover from the horrors of the war. They will spend the whole summer there, as well. The plan is for Dale to remain behind while Lee shuttles the kids, Marly and her brother Joe, back and forth, visiting Maple Hill on weekends. Lee has been in touch with the neighbors, the Chris family, who have opened the house and done what they could to make it welcoming. They still own a house there and, as the story begins, the family is on the way there. She also talks a lot about Maple Hill, where she spent her summers as a child. A former POW, Dale is suffering from mood swings and depression and seems to be tired all the time. The only 'give away' is when Joe refers to 4 dollars as a lot of money - but even that, since Joe's a kid, doesn't do any harm to the timelessness of Miracles.

Sorensen mentions 'the war' without ever mentioning Hitler, Germany or WWII. Because the setting is nature and a back-to-the-land ideal, the story could be set after almost any war - and because we're in a war right now, it could easily be set in the present. Ignoring the copyright date, there is almost nothing in it that sets it in a particular timeframe. ISBN 0590431455 - This Newbery Award Winner managed to pull off one of the most difficult things in kids' books - possibly in any genre.

Miracles on maple hill by virginia sorensen