“In Cottonwood Summer and the newly released Cottonwood Fall, Gary Slaughter has created a detailed, intimate portrait of a small Michigan city in the third year of World War II. Both novels feature a plethora of eccentrics, humble heroes, grieving families, and dastardly Nazis, with two 10-year-olds, Jase and Danny, at the center of it all. The boys skinny dip in the city’s water supply, church-hop through Sunday mornings, milk cows on Grandpa’s farm, and generally pursue every boy’s ideal escapades. Along the way, they also chase spies and get acquainted with local prisoners of war, presidential candidate Thomas E. Dewey, and the beloved Franklin D. Roosevelt. Slaughter’s rambling, memoir-like style makes these stories more languid reminiscence than taut adventure, taking time with the details of home-front life. The presence of POWs on American soil is a rarely explored part of history, and Slaughter makes the most of the fact that many German soldiers got along quite well with the locals working on farms, getting educations, and in some cases learning to love their enemy.“
Nashville Scene, June 2006

“These two young heroes (of the Cottonwood series) are 'this generation’s Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn.'”
John Seigenthaller, host of A Word on Words, February 2007

“Cottonwood Fall by Gary Slaughter is an especially engaging novel recalling a vivid depiction of America during the difficult year of 1944. Slaughter’s unique writing style is sure to consume the readers’ attention as Cottonwood Fall follows two ten-year old boys through their adventures in a small town, Riverton, Michigan, as they encounter vengeful German POWs, Thomas E. Dewey, and FDR. Cottonwood Fall is highly recommended to the general reader, especially those intrigued by the World War II lifestyle of the American citizen. Also a highly recommended book by Gary Slaughter is the prelude to Cottonwood Fall, Cottonwood Summer.”
Midwest Book Review, March 2006

“Slaughter has carefully crafted assorted themes including small-town life on the World War II home front, vengeful German POWs, and the Roosevelt-Dewey presidential race into the hilarious and heart-warming tour de force called Cottonwood Fall, a masterful sequel to his best-selling novel, Cottonwood Summer.”
Bookwoman, Woman’s National Book Association, Winter 2006