Chock-full of unbelievable stories, Me and the Cottonwood Tree will enchant readers with the hilarious misadventures of young Herb growing up during some of the most pivotal times in America.
From getting stuck in the family outhouse, to buying a donkey as a pet, to creating a giant fireball out of burning Christmas trees, you’ll be taken along for a wild ride full of hysterical stories of Herb growing up through some of America’s most influential moments in history.
Set in Arizona and California from 1933 to 1950, this is the story of one boy’s untethered childhood. Herb Bryce grew up as part of a large Mormon family, moving frequently from town to town and house to house. In each new home, Herb learns valuable lessons...and often gets into heaps of mischief along the way.
Jump back to a time when kids were given freedom not often allowed to children today—roaming fields and forests, having adventures, and learning about how to create adventure right outside your door.
Read an Excerpt
“There was a small irrigation ditch parallel to the road, and a footbridge with no handrails leading across to the mailbox. Deeply rooted into the bank of the ditch was a majestic old cottonwood tree. It managed to escape becoming firewood by offering additional beautification to the front of the house, plus a big limb perfect for hosting a swing, and, most of all, by providing cooling shade. That was my grandma’s favorite place to relax.
When I close my eyes, in my mind I see a beautiful, peaceful scene. There sits, on the edge of the footbridge over the irrigation ditch, my forty-eight-year-old grandmother, the mother of eleven children, underneath that big tree, just enjoying the shade, her knitting basket beside her. She is knitting a sweater, swinging her feet back and forth, and half humming, half singing a song to herself. My aunt Maxine sits in the swing, whirling around and around in circles. And there I am, a little boy with a lot of energy, running around trying to catch butterflies, too young to understand that you can’t catch butterflies by chasing them.”
Reviews
“I grew up watching the stories of The Waltons on TV and enjoying the adventures of the Walton kids. Those stories pale in comparison to the misadventures and odd ventures of Herb’s untethered boyhood. These stories make the Waltons seem like quiet, simple, boringly normal folk. Herb’s grandpa could have had a sitcom just with his wacky life events. Frankly, it is a wonder Herb survived drowning in outhouses or driving lessons at 4:30 a.m. Seriously, can you even imagine a Waltons episode where Grandpa, in bed, gave a driving lesson at 4:30 a.m. to a twelve-year-old who was taught to drive a stick shift by holding a toilet plunger? Then expected the twelve-year-old to consistently drive six miles to do farmwork? This book is filled with crazy wisdom, like stupid places to put your thumb, the mercy of two biscuits, or things that could kill you—like riding in a child’s car that is roped to the back of a Ford.
“The author—who survived all this make-you-want-to-cry-and-laugh-at-the-same-time Green Acres–from-hell hazing—writes a wise, rational life-advice epilogue. The epilogue is worth the price of the book and deeply impressed this theologian. I read Herb’s words, and they sound like lost pages of the Stoic philosophers Epictetus and Seneca, as well as the ideal of Epicurus, which was to enjoy the simple pleasures of life and friends.”
—Rev. Dr. Paul M. Ashby
“I LOVED THE BOOK! From scorpions to swimming lessons, dances to dynamite, this is the story of a childhood well spent. Reading this book feels like you’re gathered around listening to a friend tell a well-loved story, the kind that has been polished in the retelling until the ebb and flow are just right.
“Bryce’s book not only opens a door into a world of boyhood mischief in the last era when it was OK to let children play with dynamite, but it also looks through that door with both feet still firmly planted in the twenty-first century. Few stories talk about World War II rationing and then go on to make a Back to the Future reference! Thoroughly enjoyable from cover to cover.”
—Lorie Hoffman, MFA
“Me and the Cottonwood Tree: An Untethered Boyhood is the delightful story of a happy childhood, full of exploration, adventure, and learning, nurtured among an expansive, multigenerational and loving family.”
—Marcia Barton, English professor emeritus, Seattle Central College
“Anyone who has a grandparent would be lucky to get a book like this. The story is not just about the shaping of one boy; it’s also about a culture and way of life that are long gone. Bryce’s ability to wind his family history within American history is a great gift and makes for excellent storytelling—for grandkids and the rest of us. I think I’d like to sit under that cottonwood tree myself.”
—Laurie Lindblad