Memoir: Marshfield Dreams When I Was a Kid

Marshfield Dreams is a memoir that tells the childhood story of Ralph Fletcher as he is moving away from his friends in Marshfield Massachusetts to Chicago because of his dads new job. Before he leaves his friends Andy, Steve, and Larry teach him at his so called "funeral" that "saying goodbye is forgetting, and forgetting is losing one another". So before Ralph left he wrote this story to remember his friends and for his friends to remember him. Ralph talks about both the good times and bad times he had with his friends. The book teaches a lesson to trust in your friends on both ordinary days and your last with them.

The author does a good job at describing the times him and his friends shared such as when Ralph explains when he was laying down during his "funeral" and describes how it felt having his friends covering him in pine needles. The details he gave made the experiences he had vivid and allowed you to almost experience them with him. 

Motivational Activities:

1) Have students write their own short memoir and have them read them aloud to the class if they wish.

2) Have students compare and contrast the things Ralph and his friends do for fun and what they and their friends like to do for fun.

Reading Response Questions:

1) Why did Ralph have to move away?

2) What lesson did you learn from this book?

Fletcher, R. J. (2012). Marshfield dreams: when I was a kid. New York: Square Fish.