Drawing on the experiences of his own childhood, Ron Molen recalls a young Mormon boy who grew up in a Catholic neighborhood near Chicago in the 1930s. Tom, or "Wart," as his friends know him, joins youngsters of the same age in building treehouses, digging tunnels, making up secret code words, and vaunting their one-upmanship over a rival group of boys at the skinny-dipping hole. This is where whatever meaning life has is to be found, the author seems to say. Written with obvious nostalgia, readers will find in Ron Molen's telling memories of their own childhoods. [publisher blurb]