An American Summer

While browsing in a local TJMaxx this past summer I came across a copy of this book on the bargain aisle. The cover drew me in - different from on the one pictured on this site - the text on the flaps took hold of me, and the bargain price of $1.00 clinched the sale! I must say, it was the best dollar I've ever spent. Fourteen year old Christy Bannister moves from Indiana to Baltimore, MD with his family and learns a lot about life through his unique friendship with Kathyryn Slade, a twenty-three year old young woman with polio. Deford weaves a great story with true to life characters, ones that could be your own neighbors, as he touches on the issues of suburban growth in middle class America in the 1950's, the fear parents had of devastating childhood diseases, truth and trust among both family and friends, and how love can touch you at any time, any age, any place.

Just finished this book and I couldn't put it down, the narraration thru the 14 year old was just so great. The setting of Baltimore during the fifties was also superb, I was really able to feel how the author was conveying life in the fifties with the fear of polio and the communist bashing and what-not. It really made me feel like a WASP living among the manors of Baltimore. A heart wrenching story with two awesome characters that I will no doubt read again very soon.

This great book took me back to the 50's. The plot dealt not only with friendship but family relationships, growing-up, lonliness, and trustworthy sacred relationships. This is the way I remember the 50's. An enjoyable read. It left me feeling good and humbled.

This is one of those books that will have you thinking about its characters long after you've finished reading it. Kathryn and Christy became so real to me, their friendship so alive and dynamic, that it's hard for me to believe they didn't really exisit.The unlikely friendship forged between Christy, a 14 year old coming of age during a hot Baltimore summer and Kathryn, a beautiful 23 year old stricken with polio in her teens, is so poignantly rendered. The characters are so complete! Their exchanges are witty and wonderful. Okay, I'm gushing. But this book affected me pretty deeply. It's rare to read a book that makes you laugh, cry and ponder the nature and the mystery of human relationships. I wish there could be a sequel that follows Christy throughout his adult life (there is a very brief epilogue dealing with this, but it was too brief for me).The relationship between Christy and his family (particularly his father) is also an important part of the story--how his father's actions shape Christy's perceptions of the world, how Christy grows to understand a bit better the complexities of adulthood. There is also some wonderful interaction between Christy and his sister Sue after she is raped by the neighborhood good guy.Maybe some people will find this book too tame or lacking in action. But to me, it was a wonderful "slice of life" kind of novel about how what appears to be an ordinary summer can actually turn into extaoridinary, life-altering experience.

Many years have passed since I read a book that brought tears to my eyes. This is the one that did it!