Summary

The brief Preface to the collection describes a vivid memory that Jo had as a child, when she repeatedly cried, unable to be consoled, whenever her parents finally shut off her bedroom light, revealing an ominous-looking new night light. When Jo, as an adult, asks her mother if she remembers that night, her mother responds, “‘I don’t remember any that weren’t like that’” (xii).

“In the Current" also briefly describes a scene from Jo’s childhood. She is camping with her family when they see a group of teenagers being helplessly swept away in the river. The present adults jump in to save them, and a boy excitedly recounts how he thought the sight of young Jo, quietly observing from the bank, would be the last thing he ever saw.

“Bonanza” describes how Jo would annually spend a week each...