My Most Excellent Year

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 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 show more 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

I love Steve Kluger. When I found out he'd written a YA novel I was thrilled, and this definitely didn't disappoint. It's told in the first person by three different teenagers recounting their "most excellent year" for a school project. This was the year T.C. fell for Allie, Allie figured out how to get out from under the restrictive influence of her diplomat parents, and Augie (Finally! He was the last to know!) figured out he was both gay, and in love. It was also the year they brought Hucky, an abandoned deaf kid who firmly believed Mary Poppins would some day come to save him, into their loving, if slightly unusual, family. Kluger's style that you see in his adult novels is here: the story told in notes and letters, the humor and show more romance, and the characters you wish knew in real life. Loved it. show less

I love Steve Kluger's books, and this one is definitely no exception. He makes me laugh out loud throughout all his books, though his books are definitely not steeped in reality. In this book, the teens were funny, wonderful, and clearly having a much better time in high school than I did. Hucky was adorable, endearing, and a terrific addition to the story. The adults were much more understanding any I knew, but that just made it much more fun to read. I loved the whole Julie Andrews/Mary Poppins plot scenario and thought it was "spot on" to how Julie Andrews would have reacted if it had really happened. Recommended as a fun, feel-good read.

I've read a lot of books in 2009, and a lot of them have been pretty awesome. But Steve Kluger's book has been among the best. My Most Excellent Year is, like the subtitle says, a novel of love, Mary Poppins and Fenway Park. Don't let that stop you because the baseball (and it's definitely not so much about the Red Sox as it is baseball as a method of connecting) is incidental. It could be any sport, but because the book's sent in Boston, baseball makes sense. Really, the novel is about four high school students, four parents, one bookstore clerk, one adviser, and one six year old kid and those characters, highly developed, make the book quite a brilliant read. Not only is the style (essays, letters, instant messages and emails) show more compelling, the plot is, too. My Most Excellent Year is, above all else, a book about love and Kluger holds nothing back. I cannot recommend this book enough. It doesn't matter who you are or what your feelings on sports might be, My Most Excellent Year has everything you could ever want in a book. As they say, A+++ would read again. In fact, I'll probably end up buying it. For me, it really was just that good and I'll be honest, I never wanted it to end. While some people seem to have a problem with the fact that it's unbelievable, I think that's the point. Like several of the characters say, sometimes you need a little magic in your life and Kluger more than provides it. show less

I flat out LOVED this book. It's a warm, unabashedly romantic romp through the early adolescence of three of the sweetest characters you are ever likely to meet in YA. The parents were my favorite part. Told through emails, diary entries, term papers and IMs, this one grabbed me early on and even though I was well aware of the machinations, I was happy to go along for the whole ride. And I cried at the end. In a good way. The plotting was solid, the story believable, and the world just a little better than the one I live in. This won't be my last Kluger. I've put it on the top of my true love's TBR stack, from whence it will go on my son's and ultimately it will wind up in my stepdaughter's mailbox. Loved it with my whole heart.

My Most Excellent Year, at its heart is the story of three friends; TC Keller, Augie Hwong, and Alejandra Perez. When they are assigned the essay “My Most Excellent Year,” they all agree it was their ninth grade year. It was the year TC fell for Alè, the year Augie realized he was falling for another boy, the year Alè moved into a public school and faced her strict, dogmatic parents and their expectations for her. Their story is told alternating points of view between the three teenagers, letters from their parents, letters from friends, IM messages, text messages, emails and more.

It’s about friendship, family, love, coming out, death, grief, baseball, finding acceptance, finding faith, Mary Poppins, Broadway, politics, social show more activism, show tunes and more. Yet it it’s not overfilled with any of these things. It only leaves you wanting more.

This was the first book I read for my bracket in the Nerds Heart YA tournament and I was almost afraid I’d made a mistake in starting with it. My love for this book is fierce. I, quite simply, adored it. And it all comes down to one thing – Augie.

At first glance, Augie seems like a somewhat stereotypical gay character. He loves old-time Hollywood film stars like Bette Davis, Natalie Wood and Judy Garland. He is a song and dance man; he knows all the Broadway shows. He is obsessed with musical-theater. He is a diva. He somewhat reminded me of Jack on Will and Grace, but younger. And he is so sweet in his confusion as he realizes for the first time that he has fallen in love with another boy. The best part of his story is how everyone and I mean EVERYONE accepts Augie as he is. Many know what he is before he even does and they don’t care. It was refreshing to see Augie accepted for himself and to see him accept himself so easily. No matter your stance on this issue, everyone has the right to be what and who they are, and I felt that this book pictured a world where that was possible.

The other characters are great as well. The characterization in this book was perfect. By the end, I felt as if I knew these characters as well as my own friends and was sad to say goodbye to them at the end. TC, the real main character, was amazing, such a boy, so sure of himself on the outside but inwardly doubting everything. I found it so touching how he wrote to his mother in his assigned diary and the way he befriended Hucky, the six-year-old deaf kid who in turn taught TC so much about life. I loved how Alè faced her parents and their desires for her life that went so against her own. All these characters were so bright, so passionate and alive – it’s hard not to love this book and I highly recommend it. show less

I miss Boston. I miss walking through the Commons in the fall, drinking on roof decks in the summertime, riding the T and just getting off at random stops, shoveling my car out, pumpkin ale, my book club besties, Fenway franks, that feeling that a bar gets when a Dropkick Murphys song comes on, and perusing the Boston Public Library in Copley Square. Hell, I even miss the frakking BU students who ride the green line and the 57 TWO STOPS instead of just walking. This book almost made me physically sick with nostalgia. That’s the kind of hold Boston can exert over a person--and I only lived there for a few years. I loved this book. It filled the Boston-shaped hole in my heart.

The author blurb on Goodreads does not tell me where [a:Steve show more Kluger|65944|Steve Kluger|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1191974172p2/65944.jpg] grew up, but if it isn’t Boston/Brookline, I’ll eat my own hand. Alright, don’t worry too much about me, I’m back from visiting his website and he lives in Boston. I’m glad I checked him out because it confirms something else I'd been thinking—this book is very close to Kluger’s heart. He wrote what he knows and is passionate about and did a fabulous job of it. I read a lot of science fiction, fantasy, romance, and speculative/dystopian fiction. All of these genres are fun to read but I rarely connect with them on an emotional level. Young adult books often get a bad rap but I honestly can't think of an adult book that has moved me the way that several YA books (most recently this one and [b:The Piper's Son|7417780|The Piper's Son|Melina Marchetta|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1261824018s/7417780.jpg|9362085], which I can't recommend highly enough) have--especially lately.

What do an Asian gay teenager, a deaf orphan, a single dad, the Hispanic daughter of a diplomat, Julie Andrews, and a same-sex couple, one of whom is a Congresswoman have in common? That's right, they are all characters in this book. People on the lookout for absolute realism should probably give this one a skip but I truly think they would be missing out. This book is about the little magical moments in life and it would be a shame if a reader couldn't just run with the story on this one. After all, we're supposed to be the dreamers, aren't we? Back to the story: TC Keller (Anthony Conigliaro Keller) is named for a famous Red Sox player, as are many other members of his extended family, including his father, Teddy. (after Ted Williams of baseball AND tunnel fame in Beantown) After losing his mother at age six, TC became best friends and brothers (of a sort) with Augie Hwong. Fast forward to high school and the two are now writing a school essay about their "most excellent year." (freshman year) Still best friends, the two are joined in their essay-writing by Alejandra Perez, TC's crush who recently moved to Brookline when her father accepted a position at Harvard.

The story is told in epistolary fashion and I think it is the better for it. Because we not only have sections of Augie, TC, and Alé's essays, but also snippets of news articles, IM coversations, parent/teacher conference transcripts,and letters, we get a feel for so many side characters. One of the best things about this book, if not THE best part, is how you get a feel for the community--not only the family members but also the school, the neighborhood and Red Sox Nation. Boston has a very community feel to it to begin with and I loved how the book really hit home (pun intended) on that note. I've lived all over the place but there aren't many cities where it is totally normal to go to little league or pick-up baseball games if you aren't a kid and don't have a kid on the team. And Kluger takes readers all over the city on dates and adventures. He just gets it.

This book is a wonderful example of getting relationships right. Parental relationships, lifelong friendships. sibling relationships (whether blood or otherwise), and I think the most moving relationship was that of mentor/big brother. I think Hucky Harper might be one of my favorite characters ever. TC first sees Hucky, a six-year old boy, watching his baseball game. After Hucky gives TC the pitch calls when TC is at bat with stunning accuracy, TC befriends him and they form an adorable relationship. Hucky, for the depressing reason in the spoiler above, is orphaned. (not at all depressing in itself but only because he was in the foster system because of it) He hasn't spoken to anyone in over a year and spends most of his time watching Mary Poppins. While the book is about what made that specific year the most excellent for TC, Augie, and Alé, I know it will be far up there in Hucky's life as well. The extent to which everyone in TC's life went to bring Hucky into their fold was heartwarming.

The blurb about this book indicates that it is about young love. I mean, I guess it is. Both Augie and TC spend most of their year developing meaningful relationships with classmates. When it comes down to it, I cared much more about the secondary storylines in this one. But don't get me wrong--I loved every bit of it.

The bottom line is that this book made me want to move back to Boston, find a cool house in Brookline, and start procreating.

SCB TBR Challenge; April - Teccc. Thanks! show less