Duffy's Rocks

Duffy's Rocksis set in the Depression years in Pittsburgh, and follows young Timothy Brennan as he seeks to find his father who has long since disappeared. Timothy and his cousin explore the city of Pittsburgh--a delightful tour that will certainly urge older readers to recall their own childhood. Through his search for his father, both the reader and Timothy encounter and explore the universal issues of family, self-discovery, and independence. Duffy Rocks provides an abundance of particulars about how children were affected during the dust bowl years, and is an opportunity for younger readers to gain a greater understanding of their own grandparents, perhaps even prompting them to record the oral histories in their own families. It is also a chance to get a sense of how the various events and situations of the past were woven together. Readers can relive the trials of the economic and social difficulties of the Great Depression and the predominance of the various immigrant groups whose influence and presence were so strong in the early part of the century in America's urban centers, from the perspective of someone their own age.