Bill Rivers

I am participating in the Kindle Summer Reading challenge and one of the options was to read one of their summer picks. I chose Last Summer Boys, partially because it was set in Pennsylvania. The story takes place in the summer of 1968 and revolves around the Elliott family that includes three brothers, Jack, the youngest, along with Pete and Will. They are joined by cousin Francis who is sent away from the city to escape the riots and fires.

Jack is determined to keep Pete, who turns 18 on the 4th of July, away from Vietnam by making him famous. He even has a plan for how to do it and enlists Francis's help. Things don't turn out the way he thinks and the book takes a surprising and dark turn that gives this coming-of-age novel a gripping twice.

Besides being an excellent story teller, Bill Rivers writes beautiful prose. I found myself highlighting descriptive passages that made me slow down and savor.… (altro)