A picture of me, (2nd from left,) and my sister Susan, (3rd from left,) along with two friends when I was in 2nd grade and my sister was in 1st grade.

What was it like for an elementary school girl the year my forthcoming novel takes place? For one thing, she froze her legs off every winter.

Imagine you’re an eight-year-old girl on a frigid winter morning in 1962. You’re shivering as you get dressed to go to school., knowing what it’ll be like waiting at the bus stop. The cold wind will whist...