Steve Kluger

Just about the happiest book I have ever encountered, plus I am a sucker for any kind of epistolary novel. The guys are all fabulous, the girls are all swell, and even when characters break up they remain BFFs. Little to no mention of any homophobia (seriously, two gay teenagers in a 1990s boarding school and nobody bats an eyelash?) and AIDS is mentioned only in passing. Lots of LOL lines and sweet romance of both the homosexual and heterosexual variety. I could have lived without the show more wisecracking 12 year old boy, but that's a minor complaint. Recommended for anyone who wants the literary equivalent of a lighthearted 1950s musical. show less

Scotty Mackay knows how to throw a fastball. That pitch alone earned him two Cy Young awards for the Washington Senators, but now that he's turned 36, his pitching is starting to wane. What used to be a frightening pitch to batters has become old hat and easily hit. So his catcher suggests he tries some new pitches, like throwing a curveball, and against his own doubts, Scotty begins teaching himself the curveball. And lo' and behold, his once downward spiraling career makes a 180-degree show more turn. He begins winning games, surprising everyone including himself, and quickly gets the Senators on track to potentially win the pennant.

Then Scotty's longtime catcher is injured, and the Senators make a trade for a catcher from Cleveland, someone that Scotty detests: Jason Cornell. Cornell is the pretty boy, posing for underwear ads and making all the ladies swoon. And those eyes.... Scotty does everything he can to make Jason's life miserable but soon comes to a serious conclusion -- that he may be falling for the new catcher.

"Changing Pitches" is a fun and funny baseball novel, giving insight into the inner workings of the locker room and what really goes on during those discussions on the pitcher's mound. Told through journal entries, newspaper clippings, snippets of conversations (from the pitcher's mound), and interviews, author Steve Kluger manages to throw a little potential gay romance into the baseball mix without taking away from the baseball aspect. So while Scotty tries to figure out whether or not he truly is falling in love, he still helps the Senators keep inching closer and closer to that pennant. It's a fun read that even a diehard baseball fan would enjoy. show less

This was a surprisingly solid, remarkably sweet, YA lit book with a heart of gold. It's an easy read, but one that will stick with you after you close the back cover. The message is one of being true to yourself, and understanding that what is good for you is not necessarily good for everyone else around you. It's growing up, but remaining true to those you love while doing so. Acceptance, tolerance, and having the most open heart you can for everyone in the world.

The book shows how one show more person opening their heart can lead to others doing the same. The 'pay it forward' sort of philosophy that can often effect the world in so many positive ways is lovingly portrayed here. One can only hope that everyone who reads this learns from it (and yes, from Mary Poppins), to see how much grace is in being honest, being true, and doing the right thing even if it is hard.

The action focuses around three friends - T.C., a baseball fanatic, Augie, a gay theatre enthusiast, and Ale, the daughter of diplomats who has a passion for theatre over politics but doesn't believe her parents would ever allow her to pursue it. T.C. is determined to win Ale, while Augie and Ale are learning to come to terms with their true selves and passions. Their lives intertwine and ultimately come to focus on those of others. A baseball diamond, Julie Andrews, and a young deaf boy with no family to call his own.

I'd happily recommend this book to others.

Just don't read the author bio in the back until you finish the book itself, then feel the love grow and the tears flow for the brilliant [a: Madeline L'Engle|14755985|Madeline L'engle|https://s.gr-assets.com/assets/nophoto/user/u_50x66-632230dc9882b4352d753eedf9396530.png]. show less

If you ask me, I will tell you that I am more than a little tired of books set around World War II. I will also tell you that baseball bores me silly. And yet somehow, I picked up Steve Kluger's Last Days of Summer this summer (I've had it untouched long enough that I discovered Borders bookmarks in the front) and thoroughly enjoyed this warm, delightful, hilarious, and ultimately heartbreaking epistolary novel.

It's 1940, and twelve-year-old Joey Margolis lives in Brooklyn with his mother show more and his aunt, his father having remarried and abandoned his son. Joey is the only Jewish kid on the block and he's bullied pretty badly so he and his best friend Craig Nakamura cook up a way to get the bullies off Joey's (and Craig's) back. Joey sstarts writing to Charlie Banks, an up-and-coming star third baseman, albeit a hot-headed one, on the New York Giants asking him to hit a home run for Joey. But Joey doesn't just ask for the home run, he claims to be dying of every malady under the sun as each of his letters to Banks only gets him a signed photo of the slugger rather than a radio broadcast home run dedication. Finally Charlie snaps and writes back telling Joey to cut it out with the letters. And somehow thus is born one of the most entertaining letter-writing relationships ever. Joey is precocious and highly amusing (and smart and Machiavellian) and no adult who comes into his orbit can resist him for long, not President Roosevelt's press secretary, not Charlie's teammate Stuke, not Charlie's singer girlfriend Hazel, not the rabbi in charge of Joey's Bar Mitzvah, not even his principal (although he might give his teacher a nervous breakdown). The letters that Joey sends and receives are priceless and his correspondence gives the reader a close look at what a boy his age was thinking and worrying about in the run up to WWII. In addition to hounding Charlie, he watches and interprets the situation in Europe writing to advise the president based on his deductions, and he and Craig keep eyes on their elderly German neighbor, convinced she's a spy.

All of the characters here are written convincingly and the reader will be as taken in by Joey's charm as all the other characters are. The news clippings score cards, school papers, and other ephemera included in and amongst the letters add to the period detail. Kluger includes difficult subjects here, such as the Japanese internment camps and Hitler's unchecked military advances in Europe, with a light touch but doesn't minimize them. And while the reader can see the ending coming many pages before it actually arrives, the book has to end that way. This is a book of both laughter and tears, each completely earned. You'll be touched by both Joey and Charlie and will continue to giggle when you think of them and their relationship long after you close the cover. show less