The Quilt

When a six-year-old boy goes to live with his grandmother during World War II, he soon notices that only the women are left to run the farms and so he does his best to lend a hand wherever needed, but when his cousin goes into labor, he is unable to assist at all and so just listens to the story of his family from the women who have gathered to make the newborn a special quilt.

1944. Wartime.

A six-year-old boy goes to spend the summer with his grandmother Alida in a small town near the Canadian border. With the men all gone off to fight, the women are left to run the farms. There’s plenty for the boy to do—trying to help with the chores, getting to know the dog, and the horses, cows, pigs, and chickens.

But when his cousin Kristina goes into labor, he can’t do a thing. Instead, the house fills with women come to help and to wait, and to work on a quilt together. This is no common, everyday quilt, but one that contains all the stories of the boy’s family. The quilt tells the truth, past and future: of happiness, courage, and pain; of the greatest joy, and the greatest loss. And as they wait, the women share these memorable stories with the boy.
From the Hardcover edition.