Brandywine Boy

Brandywine Boy is a memoir that also includes relevant history, social history and explanations of some features of farm animals. It describes life and events that occurred in the mid-twentieth century as seen through a boy’s eyes. Most of the book centers on the author’s experiences on a small farm in the Brandywine Valley of southeastern Pennsylvania. The author had a number of Tom Sawyer-like adventures, which included building a log cabin after felling trees with friends 11 to 13 years of age, drinking from a swamp out of necessity, and jumping a barbed wire gate while riding his horse without a saddle. And without television a boy had to depend on his imagination while listening to radio shows. The author is a veterinarian so he speaks authoritatively about the inner workings of farm animals, providing for their needs and the nature of farming in the post-World War II era. Artist Gayle Joseph has added eleven evocative illustrations. Both teenagers and adults, particularly those who grew up in the same era as the author, will enjoy Brandywine Boy.