Marshfield Memories by Ralph Fletcher is a companion book to Marshfield Dreams.  Fletcher shares memories about growing up in Marshfield and how the setting and people in his life impacted him.  Fletcher, as the oldest of nine, describes feeling responsible for his younger siblings and having to make difficult decisions (Do I report my younger brother as the Boy Scout mischief maker?).  He shares many adventures (frog catching, almost being kissed, Boy Scout campouts) often leaving the reader feeling introspective. Fletcher conveys his love of writing throughout the book and shares the first poem he wrote.  Loss of a friend, moving away, and a beginning understanding of racial inequality are covered with strong themes of family and friendship. Written at a 4th grade reading level, the short chapters will interest readers in the 5th to 8th grades as many of the stories Fletcher relates revolve around his middle grade years.  Photographs at the beginning of each chapter take the reader to Fletcher’s time and place showing his family, the woods, his first poem, and even Necco wafers. The reader will see a snapshot of life in the early 1960s from a 5th grader’s perspective (radio, square dancing in PE, Necco wafers, playing marbles at recess, the Kennedy assassination).  Librarians may find themselves putting this book in the hands of a reader feeling caught between being a kid and being an adult.

Reviewed by Heather Hale, Easton School District, Easton