ABOUT THIS BOOK

In 1955, thirteen-year-old Lyric describes her older sister Summer’s descent into mental illness, telling Summer’s story with humor, courage, and love.

* “Summer’s swift and certain descent into mental illness . . . is documented in Lyric’s poignant words.”–Starred, Kirkus Reviews

FOR DISCUSSION

1. What is special about the relationship between Lyric and Summer? How does it change during the course of the novel?

2. Lyric dreams of buying lavender dresses and lace curtains for her move to Michigan. What does this tell you about Lyric’s character and her life?

3. “Even though the teachers at Zimmerman Junior High didn’t know my family tree clear back to its roots in England the way the teachers in Virginia did, they treated me like I was a real person anyways. Some of them even made me feel special.” (p. 25) Discuss the role teachers play in Lyric’s life and how she feels about them.

4. 4. Lyric learns from reading Mark Twain “that it’s better to keep your mouth shut and appear stupid, than to open it and remove any doubt.” (p. 47) When does Lyric follow this advice? When were some times you should have done the same?

5. Lyric is very poor by our standards, but her life is rich in other areas. What are they? Discuss the things that really matter in your life.

6. Lyric is a teenager with a single parent and a sick sister she has to watch over. Any person would be overwhelmed by such responsibility. How does Lyric cope with this?

7. Lyric dreams wolves are chasing her and Summer. Lyric escapes, but she can’t save Summer. She has to let go to save herself. Judging by the dream, how does Lyric feel about the situation with Summer?

8. 8. Mama tells Poppy why she named her first child Summer: “She’ll grow up just a’sparklin’ with warmth and laughter, and the world will be a brighter place with her in it.” (p. 3) Discuss the irony of Summer’s name. It can be said that Summer burns so brightly that she burns out. What do you think about this statement?

9. The words from one of the songs Lyric listens to–Summer turns to winter/And the present disappears (p. 49)–can be seen as a metaphor for Summer’s life. Discuss the meaning of this metaphor. How does it relate to what Summer tells Lyric about her mental illness? What does this indicate about Summer’s knowledge of herself?

10. “Summer always did have funny ways about her, but I got so used to them, they seemed normal to me.” (p. 7) What are some of the odd things Summer does? Why don’t Lyric and Poppy recognize this behavior as mental illness?

11. Read aloud the scene in chapter 16 in which Summer unexpectedly shows up during the tryouts for The Mikado. Talk about the wide range of emotions Lyric feels–from anger to sadness to grief to a sense of responsibility.

12. Lyric’s family has roots in the Virginia hills that go back many generations. Yet when they are given the chance to move north, away from their home, they jump at it. Why are they so eager to move? Discuss the meaning of home in the book and in your life. How do you feel about the place where you live?

13. Seven months after the family has moved from Glory Bottom, Lyric is hard pressed to remember the faces of her kinfolk and the names of her friends. She muses that her new life has made the past fade away. Is this process inevitable? What are some of the ways people can keep continuity in their lives?

14. “‘I’ll not lie to you, Lyric,’ Dr. Solomon said seriously. ‘You won’t ever again see that pretty, vivacious teenager who was your sister.’ He didn’t have to take away all of my hope. At least he could have said, ‘Hang on.’ So I didn’t like Dr. Solomon after that, ’cause he was the man with the watch on, and he had told me the right time.” (p. 132)

What does Lyric mean by this expression? When has someone told you a truth you weren’t prepared to hear? Discuss whether we are better off with a false sense of hope or the truth.


Discussion questions prepared by Clifford Wohl, educational consultant.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

A CONVERSATION WITH RUTH WHITE

Q. Who are the authors who have most influenced your writing?

A. I would have to say Laura Ingalls Wilder was my first and greatest influence. My mother read all of her books to me as I was growing up. In fact, one of my fondest memories is of the entire family piling into one bed while Mama read to us from the Little House books. Recently, I heard of a family who did the same thing with one of my books, and I was very pleased to hear it. Harper Lee’s To Kill a Mockingbird would have to be right up there at the top as the book having the most influence on my style. That is probably my most favorite book of all time.


Q. Often, writers have a special need to write a story. What was yours in writing Memories of Summer?

A. Yes, this was one of those books that I had a special need to write. It was psychotherapy. My oldest sister, Audrey, was schizophrenic, and she began to show the first signs shortly after our family moved to Flint, Michigan, in 1955. Naturally, it was a terribly difficult time for her, but I didn’t realize until many years later how traumatic it
was for me as well. Much of Memories is true. The title came to me when the book was only a ghost in the back of my mind. But no one can write a readable story about schizophrenia without fictionalizing it. It is too painful.


Q. How difficult was it for you to create a character, develop deep affection for her, and then have to depict her disintegration?

A. How difficult was it? Very difficult, because my real sister, Audrey, was very much like Summer. I don’t feel that she was my creation at all. In all of my other books, there is something of myself and of my own experiences as a child. I have written about the sad things, and then given myself moderately happy endings, regardless of what the reality was. There is tremendous satisfaction in rewriting history in that way. But no matter how much I wanted to give Summer a happy ending, it simply was not there for her. It could not be there even in fiction.


Q. The relationship of the sisters Lyric and Summer is one of the sweetest aspects of the novel. Is this relationship built on personal experience?

A. Not in reality. Audrey was five years older than I. But as I was writing and looking back on that time, I saw everything through older and wiser eyes, and I felt a compassion for my sister that made me want to go back and be there for her. So once again, I rewrote history by giving Summer a warm and loving relationship with her younger sister.


Q. In teen fiction, teachers are often depicted as being unsympathetic. In Memories of Summer, the teachers are portrayed as kind and understanding, and they play pivotal roles in saving Lyric from the trauma she encounters. Why are teachers so important to you?

A. Because I feel my teachers did save me in reality. Many of them played important roles in helping me to mature, to find my place in the world, and to look to the future with hope.

There really was a Mr. German, who was my music teacher that year, and a very special person. There really was a Mrs. Gaspar, but I did not meet her until 1986. In that year, I met a wonderful elderly lady in Virginia Beach, who I learned had been teaching music in the Flint public school system in 1955, but not at Zimmerman, where I attended. I wanted to include her in the book anyway.

Today I am a firm believer that every person who comes into our lives has something to teach us and something to learn from us. So we are all teachers.


Q. Music comes up a lot in the novel. Can you talk about the importance of music in the lives of your characters?

A. Music is a source of great joy and a creative outlet for many of my characters, as it has always been for me. Music was very important to me as I was growing up, and given the opportunity, I believe I would have found a career in that field. But there was no money for lessons, nor was music given serious consideration in our home. Writing, on the other hand, my other major interest, was also a creative and emotional outlet, and didn’t cost anything.


Q. What is your favorite scene in the novel and why?

A. I think my favorite scene is the trip to Flint and the first week there. Why? Mainly because it was Summer and Lyric’s happiest time together.

The most consistent compliment I receive on my work is the statement “Your books seem so real!” They seem real because they are real in many ways. As I wrote this scene, I was remembering the real trip to Flint in September of 1955, on a Greyhound bus. I tried to include in the story every memory I had of that first week to give my story its reality. To me that whole part of the story is a step back into the past.

Q. This novel is rich in details–large and small–about life in Appalachia and Michigan during the 1950s. What kind of research did you do?

A. No research whatsoever. I relied solely on my memory. I keep a mental filing cabinet of those years in the hills of Virginia, and also of the move to Flint. Sometimes I ask my sisters for their input, but for the most part, the memories are all mine.


Q. The bond between Lyric and her roots in Appalachia begins to break down as the story unfolds. Can you tell if Lyric will ever be able to “go home again”?

A. If Lyric stays in Flint, she will never be able to go home again. She is now a part of a bigger world, which at that time had more to offer than Glory Bottom did. She will always remember her home in the hills, but her memories will grow dim with time as she becomes more and more involved in her new life. If she ever goes back to visit her friends and relatives there, she will not be comfortable.

On the other hand, in reality, I did “go home again.” I never got over my homesickness, but I stayed with my family in Flint for a year. At the end of that year I returned to my roots, moved in with an aunt and uncle, and lived there throughout high school. My novel Weeping Willow is based on those years.

After high school I left, but even today, I return about once a year to see old friends. It is a special place.


Q. If Memories of Summer were set as a contemporary novel, how different would it be?

A. I don’t think it would make a good contemporary novel. The conflict would not be the same. The treatment of mental illness has vastly improved, and people are more open-minded about it.