Refrigerator Tales

Refrigerator Tales is a collection of humorous and heartfelt short stories about a mother raising three adventurous sons and a strong-willed daughter in the pre-cellphone era of the 80's and 90's in suburban Philadelphia. From the sidelines, she watches her children play pranks on one another and sometimes step out of bounds. The mother struggles to restrain from interfering with her kids' questionable decisions, trusting that things will work out… and they usually do.

Refrigerator Tales is a collection of humorous and heartfelt short stories about a mother raising three adventurous sons and a strong-willed daughter in the pre-cellphone era of the 80's and 90's in suburban Philadelphia. From the sidelines, she watches her children play pranks on one another and sometimes step out of bounds. The mother struggles to restrain from interfering with her kids' questionable decisions, trusting that things will work out… and they usually do. The stories will be familiar to those who raised a clutch of children before the internet age. Summer vacations camping in Acadia. Kids getting lost without GPS. Sibling breakfast squabbles. Having to wear grandma's ugly sweater. The alluring freedom of skateboard culture. An awkward meeting with the principal. A skiing trip to rural Maine at night in a snowstorm. A teenager's last Halloween. These stories and more capture the bittersweet beauty of kids growing up.

Nancy Everill Hoffmann has spent most of her career teaching writing, especially in the field of natural history.  She earned a PhD in American Civilization from the University of Pennsylvania and has specialized in transcribing old documents for modern use. Nancy has collaborated on three books about the explorations of John and William Bartram, colonial botanists who documented plants and Native American cultures.  She is pleased to say that her children and grandchildren all grow plants.