A Quiet Defiance of Small Town Norms

by Sandy Blais

Sandy Blais writes with candor of growing up in mid last century blue collar, small town America. She, a smart, spunky girl, was not acknowledged as smart by family, neighbors, and even most of her early teachers. She, with the help of a lively imagination and a love of reading, transcended them all. I, an old man from a similar small Yankee town, was reminded of Carolyn Chute’s The Beans of Egypt, Maine while reading her lively stories.

—Pike Messenger, author of The Water Closet

About the Author

Sandy Blais received her Master of Education degree from Lesley College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. She taught school in her hometown of Middleton, Massachusetts. She now spends her retirement years in both Middleton and Winthrop, Maine, where her children and grandchildren reside. Sandy has also found a third home on the Navajo Nation, where she has retreated for over thirty years to recharge her passion for the environment and seek Hozho, balance and beauty. In Middleton, Sandy is a voice for protecting the Ipswich River, conserving water, and teaches canning as one way to live more sustainably. She is a naturalist, often travels to places that are still wild, and feels perfectly comfortable in solitude while immersed in nature.

In this memoir, Sandy hopes you may see yourself in some of the stories. In captivating and sometimes shocking personal accounts, she will help children of the fifties and the sixties understand: not all was good, some was very hard, and much was wonderful. As a parent or a teacher, the reader will gain understanding of the impact they have on their child or student, and how important it is to be their strongest supporter.