• Age: 13 to 18
• Grade: 8 to 12
• Reading age: 13 to 18

Six girls just out of high school live together during the summer of 1943 on a farm as part of the Farm Services - doing the work of the men who are off fighting the war in Europe. We follow the stories of Helene, who sends her wages home to support her single mother; Peggy, a flirt with a secret she must keep; Binxie, whose rich family doesn't approve of her; Isabel, who pines for her fiance off fighting in Europe; and Jean, whose family farm has been taken over by the "farmerettes", as they were known. Friendship, romance, hardship, and heartbreak shape their summer, all against the backdrop of the Second World War.

Gisela Sherman is a writer and librarian. She has written several children's books and An Early Harvest is her first novel for adults. She is a contributor to The Globe and Mail and other newspapers. She lives in Dundas, Ontario.

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