Helpful Score: 2
I was born in 1948, the same year as Gildiner and grew up in a small Ohio town so that made Gildiner's stories especially appealing to me. She is an excellent writer and she captures with sensitivity the sometimes perplexing world of childhood, especially that of a "different" child in an eccentric family. Not being Catholic, I found the insights into a Catholic school education in the 50s interesting, if surprising. The end of the book, which deals with the end of innocence "by firing squad" came abruptly, as the end of innocence usually does. Others found this unbelievable; I didn't, but I wished for a more fleshed out conclusion, somehow.
