The 13th of Summer, though fiction, is based on fact as told to me by my mother Betty and other family members. Her family and friends lived through some of the hardest times in American history, the Great Depression and the “Dirty Thirties.” This is their story, their struggles, their memories. Betty has so much on her plate for a young girl growing up on the South Dakota prairie during these trying times. The losses they shared and the pain of living life was almost beyond comprehension, but the fortitude and courage of those people will make you realize this is not just her story but ours as well.