Homeschoolers, Hippies, and Heirloom Tomatoes

The story of the tugboat-living, heirloom tomato-growing, barge-farming, homeschooling vagabonds that are the Newton family. They spend their time traversing tributaries of the Mississippi River, dodging truant officers and flying Asian Carp, forging bonds with the septogenarian ROMEO Club, converting Deadheads at farmer’s markets and encountering the sasquatch of the Midwest— the Catawumpus. Fertile Myrtle’s is written from the perspective of Grace Newton, a 12-year-old tie-dyed, hackeysacking missionary who spends her free moments preparing for the Scripps Spelling Bee, which serves as the culmination of the story.