Ray Bradbury was born in Waukegan, Illinois, in 1920. This book is a sort of a memoir of his boyhood days there. In the story, set in 1928, Waukegan is called Green Town. The main character is a 12 year old boy named Douglas. He and his little brother Tom live in Green Town. The story is about Douglas and Tom's experiences one typical summer in small town, Midwestern America. It is a charming and sweet book, thoughtful and loving in its portrayal. All is not sweetness and light though. Death walks the streets of Green Town and Doug begins to take his first tentative steps to adulthood as he grapples with the certainties of life.
I first read this book long ago. Bradbury recently came out with a sequel, Farewell Summer. I couldn't remember a lot about the first book so I reread it. I do remember wondering about the dandelion wine and looking up a recipe for it. It is made with dandelion flowers, sugar and citrus, plus various other ingredients as flavor enhancers. I am not a big fan of wine, but Bradbury's prose makes dandelion wine sound heavenly.
Review from Kirkus Reviews: https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/ray-bradbury/dandelion-wine/.
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