Except for the tragic events at the end of the story, this is more a slice-of-life than a plot-driven story. Young readers with the patience to stick with it will be rewarded by a vivid picture of an earlier time in a small town, when cars were just making their first appearance, those who had phones shared the lines with other families, and doctors spent their days (and often nights) traveling around to the homes of those who needed them.

The author has chosen period photographs to illustrate the story, some from her own family, and some bought at antique stores. Along with Katy's narration, they give the book the feeling of a family artifact, the kind that most people wish the elders in their family would put together for them. For children who need action and adventure, you'd best pass this one by. But for those who love nothing more than a story of when their parents or grandparents were young, this will be a pleasure.

From the Book
I climbed up in one of the patients' chairs and watched while Father opened a cupboard and took out something like a statue. It was the stomach part of a lady. He set it up on his desk, and then carefully he opened it up! It came apart just down the middle, and there inside you could see an upside-down baby with its eyes tightly closed and its little hands curled up. It was wonderful, just as he had said; and when he began to explain it to me, how the baby grew there, I could see that it all made sense; it was exactly right, much more right than finding it in the dirt with the cutworms and slugs under the tomatoes and summer squash.

"Me?" I asked him. "I grew like that?"