Grandma's House: A Memoir (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781916622814)

As a little girl, Shirley felt that she didn't know where she belonged in the world.

Growing up in Norfolk, Virginia in the 1940s amidst the growing tensions of World War II in a city with one of the world's largest naval bases meant that she had more worries than the average child. Her childhood coexisted with ration coupons, gas shortages, crowded buses full of military men, newsreels of Hitler speaking, and the fear that her city could be bombed next. Within this context, Shirley's worries do not stop at the war, she must grapple with the uncertainty of where she will be living, whether her behavior meets expectations, and whether or not she can build a relationship with her parents who have yet to show her love.

In Grandma's House we follow the true events of author Shirley Johnson's life from age three through nine as she explores the world with an openhearted and deeply inquisitive nature. We learn about the world through the eyes of young Shirley as she discovers the beauty of nature and the stark reality of her life in the 1940s.