Mamma and Aunt Bertha had hung blankets over the windows to make the room dark. We dutifully marched down to Mamma’s bedroom. We undressed and put on our nightshirts and bathrobes. Tom and I went upstairs to the bedroom we shared. When one of his older brothers comes down with an illness and has been inspected by the doctor, John recounts: Rather than agonize over which child is sick and if the other children will catch it, Mamma Fitzgerald does her best to ensure that all children get the same illnesses at the same time. are subject to Mamma’s “system” for dealing with illness. It’s marvelously funny! But quite a shock to our modern sensibilities. Perhaps most shocking to our modern reading audience, the mother follows anti-quarantine protocols that encourage dangerous and risky germ-sharing between children. Though gruff, the boys’ camaraderie and loyalty are without question, and their ability to enter deeply into the lives of their friends in such a small community is heartwarming. For adults reading the book, the relentless optimism and energy of young boys convinced of their own brilliance and set on making money is a lot of fun. The material may not be suitable for some sensitive kids, but most will absorb what they understand and question inconclusively what they do not. However, the stories are delicately handled. A man starves to death instead of accepting charity, a crippled young boy seeks to end his life because he thinks he is “useless,” boys get lost in a cave and presumed dead, a newly arrived Greek boy learns not to be a “crybaby and a mama’s boy” through grueling rituals of schoolyard initiation.
There is nothing overtly inappropriate in the charming novel, but it is certainly gritty. Like so many stories about the early twentieth century, there is a fascinating development of technology and a rapidly changing social scene that makes for great fiction, especially when told through the eyes of the young.Īpproach the book forewarned: there is some difficult material that will likely incite nagging questions and a great deal of puzzling from young people. The books are not widely known, but those who read them and loved them as children seem never to forget them.
The character John Dennis Fitzgerald, heavily influenced by the real-life experiences of the author, is an Irish Catholic boy with a smart older brother, Tom, who can scam the pants off any kid or grownup in town. Like so much good storytelling, the tale arises from an outsider observing a close-knit social group, in this case the predominantly Mormon community. The Great Brainseries, published from the 1950s to 1970s are rollicking tales of boys figuring out life in small-town Utah.
Fittingly, one of Utah’s best-loved authors wrote a series of children’s books unlike any other. Visiting Utah reveals that it is a place unlike any other.
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