Freebody, the Lindens' neighbor, sticks his neck out again and again to make sure Garnet is happy and healthy. Citronella, who is a 'wet blanket' type of character always worried about being careful and not getting into trouble, still chooses to spend time with Garnet. This love for Garnet as a character is furthered by the way the other characters in the story react to her. By giving Garnet such a stubbornly positive and hopeful disposition, she makes it impossible for the reader to dislike her, and she cultivates in the reader an unshakable desire to follow Garnet wherever she may lead. Garnet's adventures - getting locked in the library, hitchhiking to a neighboring city, attending the local fair - are not necessarily the most exciting things ever to happen in fiction, but they are enjoyable to read about because of the way Enright describes them. This lovely slice-of-life story, winner of the 1939 Newbery Medal, could make anyone nostalgic for an idyllic small-town summer whether they've ever actually experienced one or not. Though the 1930s bring about hard times that many would choose to forget, Garnet will always remember her thimble summer. Indeed, not long after she finds the thimble, the drought which has plagued the farmers comes to an end, an orphan named Eric finds his way into the Linden family, and Garnet herself begins to experience adventures never before imagined. Garnet Linden has an ordinary life on her family's Wisconsin farm, but when she finds a silver thimble at the start of the summer, she believes it might have some extraordinary magic in it.

Thimble summer by elizabeth enright