SOMEDAY

Fourteen-year-old Celie always knew that “someday” the Swift River Valley, where she, her mother, and grandmother live would be flooded to create a reservoir for Boston, but she never dreamed that day would come just months before her graduation from eighth grade in the spring of 1938. The reality of the flooding of the town of Enfield was life changing for the three Wheeler women. Gran’s family had lived in the big 18-room house since the 1700s; she had buried her husband, her son (Celie’s dad), and a baby daughter on the land. Refusing to sell her property to the District Water Commission, Gran is the last holdout in the valley, denying that they must leave. The arrival of handsome Mr. Parker, driving his cool, yellow MG, who has come to convince Gran to sell, precipitates the bittersweet resolution. Celie’s crush on him disrupts her life-long friendship with Chubby; Mama hopes to start a new life in Chicago; and an auction of their household goods ends with Gran dying brokenhearted. A perceptive picture of small-town life that defines the meaning of “watershed” as the people must cope with wrenching change when their small Massachusetts town disappears. This “factitious” novel is one of an emerging trend of telling a story about a factual time or event with fictitious people. An author’s note and bibliographical sources provide grounding and the purposeful plot carries a strong message through the characters. Readers will understand how emotional ties to a place can define who you are. (Fiction. 10-14)