The Snows by Sharelle Byars Moranville

The Snows by Sharelle Byars Moranville in a different sort of book. This novel follows 4 generations of the Snow family when each is 16 years old. It also parallels some of the very important historical events of the US. But more than anything it shows the universal struggles that teens go through to reach adulthood whether they are living in the 1930s or the 2000s.

The story begins with Jim Snow as he tries to deal with his family and the difficulties of life during the 1930s. Jim's father has a successful barbershop in a small Iowa town, but he is not happy with his choices in life and decides to uproot his family and move during the Great Depression to an uncertain future in Colorado. While struggling with this move, Jim falls in love and tries to protect his little sister Cathy from all that is going on around them.

The second story is about Cathy who struggles with love during World War II. Cathy falls in love and has a secret romance with a young soldier heading off to war. However, Cathy has to cope with love lost and fear and shame when she is sent to a home for unwed mothers.

The third section is about Jim's daughter Jill who comes of age during the 1960s. Jill experiments with drugs and rebellion until her father sends her to live with her adopted older sister Mary Suzanne who teaches at Kent State University. While there, Jill gets a little too close to the dangers of the riots at Kent State in 1969.

The final section is about Jill's daughter Mona in 2006. Mona travels back to Iowa for her Great Aunt Cathy's funeral and becomes reacquainted with her extended family and discovers their secret past. The neat thing about this book is that Mona brings it all together and all the characters come together at the end of the story. It is interesting to see how the characters face some of the same problems at 16 years of age even though they face them years apart.