Gregory C. Randall weaves a tale of secrets in northern Michigan during the hot and stormy summer of 1956 in this award-winning novel. With the constant fear of nuclear war, an exploding Middle East, and memories of World War II still fresh with flowers on soldier's graves; a young man realizes that he is growing up. In Howie Smith's world of primal forests, orderly orchards, and Lake Michigan; he learns about life and begins to understand death. His family's dark past, a crazy aunt, a mysterious man and friend to his dying uncle, and the unyielding pressure to bring in the demanding crop of cherries, forces Howie to realize there is more to life than baseball. He explores a region of America left apart from the chaos of the world. It is a place of unwanted migrant pickers, backwoods people who must live off the land, and the grand lake that encloses them all. But Howie discovers it is also a realm of miracles. The Cherry Pickers is a novel that reminds us all of our own youth, our families, and the nature of life. "Randall introduces characters with care and skill, like pencil sketches gradually filled out and painted, shaded and brought to life on the page." - Early Reader