Dave Lapp's new memoir unpacks a long, hazy 1970s summer and reveals that when we look beyond nostalgia, childhood is complicated — and rarely innocent.

Dave's on the verge of summer vacation and change is on the horizon. Developers have begun digging up a field on the edges of Dave's universally familiar small town, presenting endless nooks and crannies for Dave and his fearless friend Edward to explore.

Over the course of the summer, while the town's adults remain focused on their fractured marriages and neighbourly resentments, the children are allowed to run wild in the field, collecting caterpillars and tadpoles, catching field mice (which they smuggle home), and nursing a curious fascination with Dave's mother's matches and their potential for disaster.

As the summer meanders on, Edward brings a new friend into the circle. But Jack's got a mean streak that's strong enough to flip Dave's world – and his place in it — upside down.

David Lapp is a cartoonist, author and educator who has been teaching cartooning at the Art Gallery of Ontario for over twenty years. Dave has created three graphic novels, including Drop In, Children of the Atom and People Around Here. Lapp's work has been nominated for an Ignatz and a Doug Wright award.