When Summer was in the Meadow records and preserves a time that is receding all too quickly into the lost pages of the last century. Based on actual events of the 20's and early 30's, the work is the real-life story of Evelyn Johnson, a child who in her own voice draws us into a magical world of backyard circuses, church picnics, and friendly neighbors. As she matures, her narration reveals with poignancy and humor life as it was lived by ordinary people during a critical period in American history. The story has historical appeal in its evocation of life in the South and in its recall of actual places, events, and persons of the time from the talkies and Lindbergh to FDR and the Great Depression. In a larger sense, however, this is a story about ourselves and the power of remembrance to shape our lives and the lives of those who follow us.