IF WE COULD HEAR THE GRASS GROW

by Eleanor Craig ‧ RELEASE DATE: June 1, 1983

Once again Craig (P.S. You're Not Listening, One, Two, Three. . .) takes on a seemingly intractable bunch of emotionally disturbed kids and makes contact--not 1, 2, 3, but fast enough to give them a summer of sports, crafts, and human relations. This time out the setting is her own backyard and the situation is more complicated: besides changing the lives of children, she's dramatically altering her own--separating from her husband, selling their house, and watching her four kids prepare to lead independent lives. All of this unravels in rather familiar rhythms as Craig, three of her children, and a professional colleague follow the uneven paths of these dozen difficult charges, including Frankie, thwarted son of an agoraphobic mother, whose improvement is most remarkable, and Adam, the most unreachable, a commune child whose only words derive from Superhero dialogues (""I must alert my duplicate"" . . . ""It's our duty to repel""). By camp's close--eight weeks of flexible scheduling, timely interventions, and a cathartic overnight in the woods--there's not a dry eye in the place, and even big man Rodney can concede, ""You gettin' to be one of my favorite enemies."" Like Craig's previous two books: short, sweet, and easy to swallow.

Pub Date: June 1, 1983

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 1, 1983

Categories: NONFICTION