Thimble Summer
Thimble Summer is a novel by Elizabeth Enright that won the 1939 Newbery Medal.[1] It is set in Depression-era rural Wisconsin.
 | |
| Author | Elizabeth Enright |
|---|---|
| Illustrator | Elizabeth Enright |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Children's novel |
| Publisher | Farrar & Rinehart |
Publication date | 1938 |
| Media type | Print (Hardback & Paperback) |
| ISBN | 9780440486817 |
The very evening that nine-year-old Garnet Linden finds a silver thimble in a dried-up riverbed near the farm where she lives, the drought that has threatened her family's financial future is broken with a rainstorm. The days that follow are filled with exciting events: the Lindens come by money to rebuild their barn, Garnet's pig wins a blue ribbon at the fair, and a young boy named Raman comes to live with the Lindens as their adopted son.
When the time comes for the show, Garnet is stuck on the Ferris wheel. She can't get down for almost another hour, and the show starts in thirty minutes.This is very unlucky for her, and Garnet is extremely devastated.
The summer is so wonderful that Garnet comes to believe that the thimble had magical powers, and she vows to remember that time as her "thimble summer", the day she found a silver thimble and everything changed.
In another chapter, "Locked In," Garnet and her friend, Citronella, stay too long at the library and are locked in for the night. This is because they stay too long for the night, and when their loving parents come to find them, they are still laughing, joking, and telling their made up stories with inspiration from their grandmother.
The themes in this book are growing up, the importance of family (Garnet and Citronella love their family) and maybe even belief in something magical, like silver thimble.
References
- "Newbery Medal Winners, 1922 - Present". www.ala.org. Association for Library Service to Children. Retrieved 12 August 2015.