| dc.description.abstract | This project is an examination, recognition, and celebration of the hard work it is to grow
up in today’s world and become one’s own person. This is the first three chapters of a novel
consisting of a series of young adult short stories that explores the interconnection of people and
place, specifically one very rural valley road in the Driftless region of Wisconsin that is
experiencing change. The stories follow a school year with the main character of each story
being a high school student and minor characters being their families, other families living on the
same road, classmates, teachers, and community members.
The young people in the stories go through many changes in their families, their peer
groups, their communities, and society at large. The land changes through the seasons and year
to year. These changes are shown by going through the seasons of a single school year with main
characters in different grades. Each month of the school year, a story focuses on one main
character with other students as supporting characters and their interactions with the land. These
stories weave together and by showing a freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior change and
develop through the stories of one year, it represents how a person would grow through four
years of high school. | en_US |
