The Shingle Weaver’s Picnic by Patti Smith transports readers to the tumultuous year of 1941, a time when the world is engulfed in the shadows of World War II. The novel masterfully captures the anxiety and uncertainty that pervades society as the war extends its chaos globally, even reaching the shores of America. Through the eyes of young Annie Elizabeth Jordan, affectionately known as Cricket, readers navigate a world where innocence is eroded by fear and suspicion, and the once-familiar world is unrecognizable.