This is the rare book I've told my husband he has to read, it's non-negotiable. Brilliant, funny, poignant. It's also one of those rare books that has a summary that exactly captures the flavour of the book itself.

But it GUTTED me. I was laughing like crazy and then suddenly I wasn't. I considered dinging it 1/2 star for this but it doesn't deserve it - the story couldn't have ended any other way and still have the same gravitas. Then, I read the "About the Author" at the end and well... gut.ted.

If you like baseball (loving baseball works even better) and the era of the 40's and don't mind a fair amount of strong language coming from the mouths of 12 year old boys, and truly enjoy laughing, this book is perfect. The vernacular used is in keeping with the time and place, but it might be a bit confusing - the slang isn't always easy to translate, although the context clarifies most of the obscure ones.

In my love of books, I put this one up with 84 Charing Cross Road. Even if I ended up gutted. ( )

Joey Margolis is a 12 year old boy banished to Brooklyn following his parents divorce. Joey begins a relationship with the rookie third baseman of the New York Giants Charlie Banks. Written in epistolary form Charlie and Joeys relationship flourishes despite Joey,’s penchant fo telling tall tales an$ outright lies Joey is the only Jewish boy in an Italian neighborhood and his search for and interaction with a rabbi to perform his bar mitzvah is hysterical. This is warm, wonderful, funny and sad and just a delight to read. ( )

Annoyed everyone at the beach while reading this! Could not stop laughing! Never heard of this book, the copy I was reading had only been checked out 2 times since 1998, crazy! A fun, touching, clever read! Takes you back to the 30'-40's. Men will love this as much if not more - baseball, Brooklyn, WW11! Thank you Shari W! ( )

A precocious young boy, Joey, from Brooklyn has a hero in Charlie Banks, an all-star third baseman for the Dodgers. The boy is very strong-willed and seemingly toys with the adults in his life, especially his therapist, to achieve his mission, becoming close to Charlie. Reaching out to Charlie and not having guidance to deal with the neighborhood bullies make it clear that Joey is in need of a father-figure in lieu of his absent dad. Charlie wants nothing to do with the kid and tries to write him off, but Joey and his accomplice, Craig Nakamura, get under Charlie's skin in their letters. They convince Charlie to become more involved in Joey's life, each teaching the other lessons in maturity. All this during WWII and Craig and his family eventually are forced to a Japanese internment camp and Charlie eventually joins the war effort. Charlie dies in combat, but has had an impact on Joey's life.

The book is also uniquely written, told through therapy sessions and letters written between the boy and Charlie. ( )

I spent most of an entire day reading Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger. It’s truly one of the most touching and funniest books I’ve ever read. The story is told in an epistolary/scrapbook style (it's all in the form of letters, newspaper clippings, notes, and the occasional scorecard, telegram, or psychologist-session transcript). The main character is Joseph Margolis, a 12-year-old Jewish boy living in a predominantly Italian neighborhood of Brooklyn in 1940. Precocious doesn’t begin to describe him.

Joey tries to ward of beatings off the neighborhood boys by claiming a friendship with Charlie Banks, the NY Giants newest baseball star. He even writes letters to Charlie claiming to be dying of various hideous diseases, and requesting a home run be dedicated to him. Charlie’s response? "Last week it was the plague. Now it’s malaria. What do I look – stupid to you?" Nevertheless, the two strike up a hilarious friendship via correspondence. Joey also regularly writes to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and the White House Press Secretary. And at school, only Joey would submit a book report detailing his disappointment on the newest Skippy Dare Mystery Story by comparing the book to Hitler’s Mein Kampf. (It’s no coincidence that his teacher ended up taking a prolonged "vacation" shortly after this.) Highly recommended.
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