[2] This first book in the New Age series deals with narrator Matt Goderich's childhood and formative years growing up in Toronto and Jackson's Point, Ontario in the 1930s.

The family lives in the idyllic Summerville neighborhood until his father Andrew, a confirmed socialist, loses his job as a university professor for political reasons.

Hood's observational style and attention to detail bring to life a 1930s Ontario in the midst of dramatic social change.

As the clouds of World War II loom on the horizon, the narrator and Canada itself both struggle through growing pains in their search for an identity.

[citation needed] The Ottawa Citizen gave a mixed review, criticizing the characters and plot, but praising the use of allegories and "frequent elegancies of style".