Farewell Summer: A Novel (Greentown Book 3)

Farewell Summer is a sequel to Dandelion Wine, set 50 years later in the same fictional town. The story takes place in early October in Green Town, Illinois, as summer draws to a close. Thirteen-year-old Douglas Spaulding, his younger brother Tom, and their friends attempt to extend the warm days by playing in the ravine and challenging the town's older residents, particularly Colonel Quartermain and other authority figures who oversee the school board and enforce the town curfew. The boys believe that if they could stop the courthouse clock, they might preserve both the final days of summer and their youth. However, Colonel Quartermain and the other old men are determined to force the boys to abandon their wild behavior and mature. As the season progresses toward winter, an unexpected exchange occurs between the generations, with the boys ultimately offering the old men a lesson about the value of accepting change and relinquishing control.