Genre Memoir
Time Period: 1934-1953
Locations: Los Angeles, San Joaquin Valley, the Pennsylvania
countryside
Budget: Medium
Target Market/Demographic Focus: Families and people 40-60
years
Logline:
Growing up in the shadow of World War II in a Quaker family, Johnny
Kimber learns to see the world through the eyes of others and, in
the process, discovers what kind of man he wants to grow up to be.
The Story:
Los Angeles after Pearl Harbor is a city in transition from an
idyllic past to a turbulent present. Although kids still run after
the iceman hoping for a frosty treat, their Japanese neighbors are
disappearing into internment camps. Johnny's parents are modern
Quakers with traditional roots trying to raise their sons in a time
of great social upheaval. The story follows Johnny through the war
and the years just after as he meets the people and has the
experiences that help him grow from a boy into a man.
The Courage to be Me begins with Johnny when he is young enough to
believe that everyone's life is very much like his own and that his
values are universal. Soon, however, that perspective begins to
change as he discovers that the world is far larger and more
dangerous than he ever imagined. Air raid wardens patrol the streets
and warn of an imminent Japanese attack. At the same time, the real
dark side of humanity is closer to home. Johnny watches as all the
Japanese people in his neighborhood are taken to internment camps
and KKK members burn a cross on a nearby lawn.
When not long after his family moves to the tiny town of Lindsey
where his father is to be a preacher, Johnny finds he possesses
something of a dark side himself. Youthful aggression sometimes
crosses the line into cruelty when he and his friends taunt and
torment the migrant Dust Bowl victims ("Oakies") whom they see as
outsiders. When his traditional Quaker grandmother arrives from
Pennsylvania, she begins the process of changing his perceptions.
She makes him listen to the "Oakies" stories and encourages him to
see the world through the eyes of others. This creed forms the basis
that eventually changes his life.
Through a series of poignant and often hilarious vignettes, we see
Johnny learn to live out his grandmother's simple idea. As Johnny
lives in different places and meets different people, moments such
as him and his brother dropping chickens down the chimney to torment
a babysitter and the fifth grader learning how to drive a truck on
his grandparents' farm bring mid-century America to vivid life.
As Johnny grows up, the lessons he learns by applying his
grandmother's wisdom allow him to discover his purpose. In the
spirit of amusing and inspirational coming of age stories such as
Secondhand Lions, Simon Birch, and Stand by Me comes a tale that
will delight and move young and old alike. In The Courage to be Me,
John Kimber brings the world of his youth brilliantly to life and
tells a story that everyone can see a little of themselves in, no
matter when they grew up.
