Sometimes, when you're sixteen, your concerns don't go beyond the parameters of your
immediate world. It's 1931 in Jefferson, Iowa, and what's important to Jim Snow are the flavors
served in the local ice-cream parlor, the location of the apostrophe key on his typewriter, and
the girl he loves. But the ties of family bind him in a way that's beyond his control, shaping not
only his life but the lives of future Snows. Jim, Cathy, Jill, and Mona Snow all come of age in
different eras (1931, 1942, 1969, 2006), but for each of them, sixteen is a departure point-a time
when they become aware of the complications that will alter the course of their lives. --from
Amazon.com