Brenda Sorrels

The Way Back 'round Brenda Sorrels

Set in rural Minnesota in the 1930's, The Way Back 'Round follows young Jake Frye, who enjoys nothing more than sitting between his father's legs while driving a wagon team of horses. However, when a large buck juts across their path and pitches Jake from the seat, his mother, tender from a string of miscarriages, reins him in. Jake's frustration builds and he makes a devastating mistake. Rejected by his mother and wracked with guilt, Jake hops a freight train joining the thousands of men and boys riding the rails during the depression. He meets Franz, another runaway, and they become brothers. Picking fruit in California, and cotton in Texas, they beg at back doors, eat in soup kitchens, sleep in "jungle" camps - all under the threat of brutal railroad "Bulls" who patrol the tracks. While Franz dreams about marrying a red-headed girl, Jake yearns for his family. When a farmer tells them about Roosevelt's Conservation Corps camps set up to help young men like themselves, they head to California and join up.