Join the Pollino family as they flee from Chicago's inner city to its suburbs to find that there's no escaping the changing times, the enduring psychological effects of war or growing up in America's most tenuous time of peace. The Elms Leave explores heritage and cultures through the eyes of two children whose experiences take them on a passage from innocence to consciousness through friendships, fidelity, humor, hatred, compassion, faith and strength. A deeply moving novel that brings the 1960's back to life through the shared joys and crises of immigrant families during a time of social change.