Posts of a Mid-Century Kid - by Ann V Anderson (Paperback)

About the Book

Anderson takes us on a journey to the 1950s Midwest and treats the reader to comfort-tales and home-town cooking in her tasty memoir.

Book Synopsis

Anderson takes us on a journey to 1950s and 60s Kansas and treats the reader to hometown cooking in her tasty memoir Posts of a Mid-Century Kid. With humor and richly crafted details, she chronicles her mid-century childhood, offering a sampling of another era. This delightful and mischievous memoir advocates coloring vividly outside of the lines!

A fun exploration of vintage toys, traditional festivities and personal growth into adulthood when life was "easy." Ann vividly describes the beauty of the prairie state and the restorative impact of nature in her life. Summers spent at her grandparents' farm, growing up with cousins, and family reunions offer a connection to the halcyon days of the mid-century.

Ann is grounded in her sense of place and the reader will experience the tall grass prairie and the never-ending horizon that Ann shares so beautifully. Through her words, we are transported to the big red barn on her grandparents' farm, to the garden where her grandmother picked sweet red raspberries, and to the beauty of small moments

Posts of a Mid-Century Kid takes the reader on a comforting journey to the farm pond with a cane pole and a can of worms, summer vacations in Colorado, waiting for the seed catalogue with grandmother, and the joy of eating 'rainy day' popcorn balls with mom during a Kansas thunderstorm.

Ann offers generous helpings of comfort-food-reading as she shares family stories and recipes of prize desserts prepared for generations, and gives second servings of hope and strength in the form of experiences shared, and the memories she stirs into her words.

A life this rich also includes heartache. Ann speaks frankly of the loss of her mom and brother at a young age and the challenge of growing up with a father who never became involved in her life. She generously shares how she's created a family from friends, a joyful marriage, and a bond with cats throughout her life.

Review Quotes

"Want to learn what it was like being a little girl growing up in Kansas during the 1950s and 60s? Here, in a carefully crafted set of stories, we get the answer to that question. We visit Grandma's huge country garden "with perfectly straight rows." We see the then ten-year-old author giving a special gift to her Grandmother at Christmas-that brings tears to the reader's eyes. ... There is much more as the author unpacks the memories of her childhood and growing up years."

-Jerry Apps, Author Simple Things: Lessons From the Family Farm

"Posts of a Mid-Century Kid by Ann Vigola Anderson gives the reader ample evidence of how interesting an ordinary life can be, of how observations as one simply goes along in life can provide universal insights. Anderson's prose is clear and engaging, and the book's subtitle sums up the author's efforts and this reader's reaction nicely: 'Doing my best. Having fun.'"

-Jim Hoy, author of My Flint Hills