Steven Manchester

Every once in a while an author comes along who writes novels that are so powerfully compelling, poignant, thought provoking, and nostalgic, that they pull at the heartstrings and stir the soul. For me, that author is Steven Manchester and his latest novel, Lawn Darts & Lemonade: Tackling The '80s.

In Lawn Darts & Lemonade: Tackling The 80's, the sequel to Bread Bags And Bullies: Surviving The '80s, the author transports the reader back to the delightful coming-of-age tale that follows the show more crazy antics of brothers: Herbie, Wally and Alphonse "Cockroach" during the summer of 1984. From playing outside and going on funny adventures, the brothers continue to learn what family is all about.

The story is told in the first person narrative by middle brother Herbie. The story begins with Herbie as an adult and a father of two boys. Pop has died and the family has gathered at Herbie and wife Donna's house for what he calls a "Redneck Shiva," where they go through Pop's things and tell stories and remember his one-liners on life lessons and advice. After everyone goes home, Herbie takes a trip down memory lane to the summer of 1984, where he and his brothers listen to Ma's advice to stay in the moment and enjoy the summer and their family.

Lawn Darts & Lemonade: Tackling The '80s is a poignant coming-of-age / family life story that will simply pull at your nostalgic heartstrings. Author Steven Manchester weaves a richly descriptive tale about what it was like growing up in the '80s. He eloquently captures the '80s nostalgia with an amazing attention to detail that easily takes the reader down memory lane.

As school comes to an end, the readers follow the boys during their summer fun! Wally gets his first real job as a dishwasher at the Oriental Pearl restaurant, Herbie has taken over Wally's paper route and will be starting high school in September, and Alphonse (Cockroach) has taken over running errands for Ma from Herbie and will be entering middle school. But before the fall season begins, the boys find themselves enjoying sleeping in late, playing outside especially with a dangerous game of lawn darts (not the way it's supposed to be played), Herbie fretting over whether Donna will go on a first date with him, drinking Ma's watered down Country Time Lemonade all summer, and most of all sharing precious moments with their family.

This was such a fun story, between the boys crazy antics and the wonderful nostalgia from the '80s, I was immediately transported between their New England home in Westport, Massachusetts, to my own memories growing up during the 70s-80s. The author captures the '80s in an amazing way, you can't help but laugh, smile, and remember all the nostalgia that he interwove throughout the story. From the big hair style, to fashion, to TV shows and big hair bands, to the toys, and the adults sitting in the kitchen on a Saturday night smoking cigarettes and playing cards, to Ma making Country Time Lemonade in the summer, it was like the author was a fly on my parents' wall back in the late 1970s - mid 1980s. The decades of the late '70s and '80s was such a simpler time, we didn't have the craziness of technology and social media that we have now, it was a more gentler world. I laughed when the author described the old landline phone on the kitchen wall with the long cord that stretched out into the living room, oh so many memories came flooding back, what a blast. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention how much fun it was following the boys summer fun filled with so many crazy adventures. But most of all, I appreciate their Ma's life advice: live in the present or you'll miss the precious moments of your life. Thank you, Steven Manchester for the special gift that you gave us readers, memories and nostalgia are just what today's world needs.

Lawn Darts & Lemonade: Tackling The '80s is an amazing story that is written from the heart. It is a must read that will make you laugh, stir your soul, and provide memories that will resonate with you for a very long time.

https://jerseygirlbookreviews.blogspot.com/2022/03/lawn-darts-lemonade-by-steven... show less

This is a Story Plant book that I have received an ARC for in exchange for my honest review.

From the book jacket:

This was supposed to be a simple summer for Billy; one more lazy expanse of time before college began. He'd fill the hours playing with Jimmy - his canine best buddy - going camping and doing all the things he promised Jimmy they'd do before Billy left.

But that was before the accident that shook the entire town.

It was before the summer job that turned into something so much more

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than a way to get a paycheck.

And it was before Vicki.

This summer was destined to be many things to Billy, things he truly didn't understand until now. But it was definitely not going to be simple.

I don't commonly incorporate the entire description from the blurb in my reviews, but the wording of this one struck me as important to how I approached the book. Just from the description, I can get a decent idea of what the book probably reads like. It's a coming-of-age tale, a boy and his dog, and then his idyllic small-town life is flipped on its head by Drama and Mayhem. Fair enough. Classic story, one that's been done to death but still manages to stay interesting. I was game. Nervous, but game.

See, when I see sentences like "the accident that shook the entire town," I start getting suspicious about the plot. Too often we see something like this and the ENTIRE TOWN stops on a dime to obsess about this tiny detail that happened to some 17-year-old kid. Having grown up in a small town, yes--I can say that it certainly would have been noticed, but that doesn't mean that everyone suddenly knows and judges. (Shuuuuuun.) So while hopeful, I approached the book with trepidation.

I worried in vain.

Manchester's writing takes an easy edge with the catastrophe--showing that it's affecting the town while it destroys the young men involved. It takes young love, complicates it believably, and makes it work out exactly as one might expect. And it takes that gripping fear of graduation and "what on Earth am I supposed to do with my life" and spins it exactly how we likely all lived it.

Billy is incredibly likable and believable in both his strengths and his flaws. His relationship with Jimmy, his aging shelter mutt, is well-rounded just like any other interpersonal relationship in the book. His struggle with seeing his friends all have definite plans for the future, and not knowing what he wants to be when he grows up is familiar. And the conflict between Billy and his friends Charlie and Mark is incredibly real and painful.

The story moves at the relatively quick pace of a classic YA/coming-of-age story, but for once I didn't mind it. There was neither anything I felt got rushed (even the romance subplot flowed nicely) nor parts I thought were drawn out too long. It ended exactly the way I felt it should (though I have hopes and feelings about the conclusion of the Vicki arc) and spared nothing.

A genuine feel-good book, even with the darkness at its core. Well-written and evocative, Manchester has bottled the feeling of limbo between high school and college--childhood and adulthood--and trapped it within 276 of literary magic. And if the ending doesn't at least tap the slightest bit at the same feelings that the end of Toy Story 3 did, I'm not sure where you've hidden your heart. Absolutely a book to check out.

Rating: **** - Recommended

The Changing Season will hit shelves this Tuesday, February 23, 2016. show less

Having grown up in the 80’s, Bread Bags and Bullies by Steven Manchester had me constantly smiling at nodding at the similarities. Although it was me and my sister, and I don’t have any brothers, we still fought as hard as they did. One time I broke my glasses and another time I ended up losing a toenail after one of our fights… and I don’t recall Manchester talking about knives being thrown at a sibling. Those were the days! If my sister and I were growing up now there’s a good show more chance our parents would be labeled as bad parents. I don’t think they were (for the most part).

It was a different time, not necessarily better, just different. We would have to go outside for hours (and I live in Wisconsin where minus 20 degrees is common) and come inside to be greeted with hot cocoa or tomato soup and grilled cheese. We would play Atari for hours and cereal or oatmeal was what we had for breakfast because we could make it ourselves as our parents rushed off to work. We came home and were expected to vacuum, do the dishes, laundry, and any other chores before our parents got home. But the faster we finished the sooner we could watch MTV!

I could go on and on about all the similarities, but if you grew up in the 80’s you’ll have more fun reading what Manchester had to write and if you want to know what it was like to grow up in the 80’s, than read Bread Bags and Bullies: Surviving the 80’s. show less

It is not a genre I normally read, but something about the title and the cover design prompted me to read this book. The cover reminded me so much of my childhood, visiting my grandmother on her farm; the old porch where we used to sit, she peeling and slicing fruit for bottling, telling me stories of the family and her childhood. I was too young to remember who finally took her rockin' chair when she passed away, but it never bothered me. I had so much rich and beautiful memories whenever I show more encountered a rockin' chair ever since.

This family saga of the old gentleman, John McCarthy and his family pulled me into the American way of rural life which we often see in movies, but seldom read in books. The characters in the book were so familiar as though I knew them all my life, yet so very American in their values, talk and outlook on life. Decent, honest folks who were paternally lead and protected by a grandpa who also wrote a diary.

The writing style, the story elements, the characters...everything, gripped me from the first sentence before I even knew what the story would be about. I only knew I wanted to learn the story behind that rockin' chair on that porch and I was determined to hear it!

It was as though the author knew where to get to me. He went straight for the heart and left me sitting in total wonderment on how it was done.

Who would not react emotionally when a simple, decent, proud man writes these words:"I've had dreams of Alice calling me home and I reckon my time is close. But I'd leaved a pig-headed fool without makin' a few things clear. I reckon I've lived a life most men could only hope for. I had folks that taught me right. I found a woman that loved me right. I worked a farm that treated me right. But none of it ever added up to the love I had for my boy, Hank. Even if I owned words fancy enough, I couldn't start to say how much I love that stubborn boy."

The symbolism in the Rockin' chair is strong enough to have everyone reading this book yearn for family we never knew, or who passed away, or for opportunities we wished we had treasured. We would all agree that those rockin' chairs was more than just a few pieces of wood that made up a useful piece of furniture! It really rocked for a special reason. They all have stories to tell.

This Rockin' Chair had me in tears - of memory but also of joy. I felt so part of this family in which the challenges of a tough life, misunderstandings, and hardship did not leave much room for emotions such as love and appreciation. Yet it does not mean it did not exist.

It is a brilliant book in so many ways. It is a book that men should read just as eagerly as women. There is a lot to contemplate and a lot of our own changed values to weigh against the message this book leaves behind. In the end I needed to ask myself: and how do you measure up, girl?

Five stars for everything, grampa John! show less