More Information . More information . Teaching PreK-8 Magazine . This book was first reviewed by Carol Otis Hurst in Teaching K-8 Magazine . The grandparents are people of wealth and respect in the community.
Grandmother is severe and unyielding.
Elizabeth's mother is kind and loving but it is Tatie, the black maid of the household who is Elizabeth's rock during this time and Tatie's grandson, Charles, becomes Elizabeth's best friend. It is Charles with whom she shares her fears and excitements. Together Charles and Elizabeth, who is coming down with pneumonia, go off to the forbidden and scary woods at the end of town which they believe is inhabited by giant turtles. Charles refuses to leave the woods with Elizabeth and she, overwhelmed by her sickness, abandons him there to his tragic end. This book can be used in conjunction with other books about WWII to find out what life was like in the United States while the war was going on.