A small boy sits with his Civil War veteran grandfather watching the Decoration Day parade, and the story follows him from that afternoon through grade-school feuds, awkward calf love and university life in a Midwestern town. Ramsey is no prodigy, but his rivalry and slow romance with the earnest Dora Yocum carry him toward 1917 and the decision to enlist.
Tarkington’s gentle comedy of growing up turns serious as America enters the First World War, a warm portrait of a generation. Download the free EPUB.