Growing Pains: A Childhood on Bear Creek: Stories of Rural Life Near Florence, Oregon

Ethel Plaep Rieken, known as Edie, to her Portland, Oregon, friends and family creates a heartfelt image of her youth in a small Oregon Coast community. This coming-of-age book captures life in the 1920s and 1930s, as Rieken matures into an eighth grader who must leave behind her Bear Creek roots and the familiar surroundings of the one-room schoolhouse pictured on the front cover of the book.First time author at age 80, Rieken masters the written word with such skill that images of a bygone era are freshly planted in our mind's eye. We share her pain, her sorrows and joys when life experiences create indelible memories and shape the person she is to become. A collector of memorabilia as well as stories, Rieken's book is also a feast for the eyes, with over 150 images of vintage photographs, documents and drawings, including ones custom made for the book by Rieken's 89-year-old sister. A book for all ages, Rieken says, ? I wrote this for my grandchildren so they could understand what it was like to grow up on a farm in the days without electricity, cars and video games. It was a different world back then'one that is completely foreign to them now.'Rieken, Ethel Plaep is the author of 'Growing Pains: A Childhood on Bear Creek: Stories of Rural Life Near Florence, Oregon' with ISBN 9780974034829 and ISBN 0974034827.