{"product_id":"9781453507131","title":"Mill Creek: A Novel","description":"\u003ci\u003eMill Creek \u003c\/i\u003e tells the story of the age-old struggle of an adolescent's attempts  \u003cbr\u003eto understand himself and his world. Peter Martin, the brainy, shy, farm-boy  \u003cbr\u003enarrator, pious beyond his years, fi ghts a private war: whether to remain with  \u003cbr\u003ehis strict farm people or whether to embrace his best friend's anarchic approach  \u003cbr\u003eto Mennonite life. Arthur Nyce, with his fl ashy clothes, his repertoire of pop  \u003cbr\u003etunes, his dereliction of a school's prescribed piety and his open affection  \u003cbr\u003ethrows Peter off balance again and again. \u003cp\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eMill Creek \u003c\/i\u003e records Peter's fl uctuations between accepting and denying the  \u003cbr\u003ediverse aspects of these two approaches to Mennonite life. An almost amorous  \u003cbr\u003efriendship, the threat of the draft (Korean War), the lure of art, a pregnancy  \u003cbr\u003eand a tragic drowning aid Peter to make compromising moves to pay tribute  \u003cbr\u003eto his friend Arthur. In the end, Peter resolves to fi nd a way out of what he  \u003cbr\u003ehas come to understand as the religious oppression of his own community. \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eSet on the campus of a boarding school, this wry, affectionate depiction of two  \u003cbr\u003eboys' struggles towards adulthood illuminates the golden era of conservative  \u003cbr\u003eLancaster (PA) Mennonites in the early 1950s. The youth in \u003ci\u003eMill Creek \u003c\/i\u003e  \u003cbr\u003eare pious, sentimental and romantic. They blend a serious intent to imitate  \u003cbr\u003etheir stolid elders and to mock lightly without fully discarding their heritage.  \u003cbr\u003eTender and passionate, innocent and sentimental, rigid and heartbreaking,  \u003cbr\u003ethe novel is a requiem for joy.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Xlibris Corporation","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47125458485488,"sku":"9781453507131","price":9.49,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781453507131_p0.jpg?v=1763849573","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781453507131","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}