Wally Lamb is a master storyteller. If you're looking for simplistic and straightforward, you're looking in the wrong place. The Hour I First Believed is a complex, interwoven, in-depth piece of literature which compels the reader to dig deeply into the text, think long and hard about uncomfortable realities, and come to terms with possible knee-jerk reactions we all might buy into regarding Columbine and school shootings in general. Because life is not a neat, tidy package tied with red and white striped string, this novel, Lamb does not try to neaten up his characters or their circumstances. What you get from Lamb is a deeply moving, troubling, sophisticated read. Take your time. Think a lot.
The Last Convertible is one of the best of the Great American Novels. The focus on the car, a 1938 Packard Super-eight, as a symbol of an era and a memory of all that was fine and bright and wonderful before the War, is what sets Anton (Tony) Myrer's novel apart from those other great novels. His style is so comfortable that you forget you're reading a book. You are there (as you were when you read Summer of '42) and you're part of the crowd at college, you're in that car, that perfect and beautiful car. And when the boys start signing up, if you're female you're at home, writing letters and talking on the phone to your friends about how you just cannot believe how much has changed, otherwise, you're getting a physical and saying goodbye. After the war you're married, and raising your children, and Vietnam is a new and very scary word.
Myrer does an awesome job telling his story, as it was the story of his time and place; he went to Harvard in 1940, and then went to Europe and fought in the war.
Myrer does an awesome job telling his story, as it was the story of his time and place; he went to Harvard in 1940, and then went to Europe and fought in the war.
Henry Winkler has definitely nailed down the feelings of the struggling reader, perhaps because he was one. The Fonz isn't so far away from reality - while he might not have felt "cool" he certainly wasn't an academic.
Hank Zipzer is a boy with troubles. Hilarious troubles, and even though my son was a proficient reader, I handed him a Hank Zipzer novel so that he would know that he was not alone in his worries and concerns about life, growing up, being a kid, and the weird things parents do that make you simply cringe.
Hank Zipzer is a boy with troubles. Hilarious troubles, and even though my son was a proficient reader, I handed him a Hank Zipzer novel so that he would know that he was not alone in his worries and concerns about life, growing up, being a kid, and the weird things parents do that make you simply cringe.