Homer and Me

Homer and Me is an autobiography, an historical narrative, rich with detail, about a young girl, Ressie, growing up in the 1900's, in the southern United States, Arkansas, Florida, and Georgia. Ressie and her brother, Homer, are constant companions. They explore old graves, pig sty's, chain gangs, swamps, and 'town'. They help with chores - making molasses and soap, attend cattle dips and pig slaughtering. They meet an array of characters, including a survivor of the Civil War. Ressie, is a trouble to her mother, though, it is she that accompanies her mother on her 'doctoring' expeditions. Part of the family travels from Arkansas to Florida, bumping and chugging along in a Model T... "Where the roads were good, Charlie could make from twelve to fifteen miles an hour, but most places they were terrible. Homer and I often ran along beside or behind the car, and we had no trouble keeping up. There were mud holes and sand bars for the car to get stuck in, and after a rain the dirt roads were always gully-washed. Several times the car almost tipped over. Mama would glare at Charlie whenever that happened, but she did not utter one word of complaint. . With the tang of youthful critics, the children and their friends trample across swamps and backlands, across social and racial boundaries. In Florida, they encounter snakes, gators, bees and fugitives from the chain gang. Gradually, her older brother Homer comes of age, and she begins to realize her own right as a person. Writing and reading have become precious to her. So, the story, Homer and Me ends at the edge of childhood, where the next begins.