It’s 1940 and twelve-year-old Joey Margolis is the only Jewish kid in his Italian neighborhood in Brooklyn. His father is checked out, absorbed in his relationship with his new wife, his mother and his Aunt Carrie are stereotypically overprotective Jewish women, and he has no one to stick up for him when he gets beaten up by the Italian kids in the neighborhood. With no one to look up to at home, Joey decides to look elsewhere. He sets his sights on New York Giants third baseman Charlie Banks.
Steve Kluger’s Last Days of Summer is written as a series of letters between Joey and Charlie from 1940 to 1942. Knowing he’ll need a hook to get Charlie interested in writing back to a random kid from Brooklyn, Joey invents an illness. Witness his first letter:
Dear Mr. Banks,
I am a 12 year old boy and I am dying of an incurable disease. It is a horrible one. I have had to spend most of my life in hospitals and in bed with high fevers and very white skin. This is because I have no more corpusles, which you may remember is what provides you with antibodies. I am also paralized. Sometimes I am racked by so much that I cry out in the night and say things like “Dear God. Dear God.”
Joey goes on to tell Charlie that all he wants is for him to “hit one out” for him. When he gets a standard form letter response, Joey doesn’t give up. He comes back with another letter, this time announcing that he is blind because “one day my eyes started to fill up with mucus and the sunshine went away forever,” and again requests that Charlie “hit one out” for him. When he gets another form letter, Joey remains undeterred. He actually writes to the Bureau of Vital Statistics in Charlie’s home town and concocts a story that prompts the folks there to send him Charlie Banks’s home address.
So what does he do? He writes Charlie at home, and this time he gets a response.
Now look here you little pisser. You write one more letter like that last one and your going to wish you were dying from an incurable disease.
Charlie Banks probably thought that would do the trick, and it probably would have with most kids, but Joey Margolis is not your ordinary twelve-year-old. He continues writing to Charlie, gradually sharing more information about his life, his worries, and his desire to go on the road with the NY Giants, and the two strike up an unlikely friendship. The tone of their letters to each other progress from irritated, antagonistic, and defensive to warm, interested, and demonstrative of genuine care. And it is a real pleasure watching the relationship develop.
Last Days of Summer is not just letters, though. I’m tempted to refer to it as multi-media because it also includes Joey’s letters to President Roosevelt (and his responses!), notes from the therapy sessions Joey receives after he’s sent to Juvie for peeing in the reservoir, report cards from Joey’s school (where he receives all As except in “obedience,” in which his grades decline until his teacher exasperatedly marks the category “N/A”), love notes between Joey and a girl named Rachel, telegrams from many of the supporting characters, and even official military documents. All of these pieces fill in the gaps between Joey and Charlie’s letters and allow readers to see a more complete picture of their relationship than we would get from a traditional narrative.
This book is funny, unexpectedly touching, and a quick, fun, perfect summer read. Joey might look up to Charlie as a father figure, but their relationship is really like one between brothers. They correct each other’s grammar, make fun of each other’s social bumbles, give each other advice, and call each other’s bluff. Their friendship is unusual and unconventional, and it prompts everyone around them to bend the rules. What results is a rollicking, unforgettable story that I tore through in a few sittings and would have read it all in one if I’d had the time. Last Days of Summer is a breath of fresh air after several heavier reads, and I couldn’t have found it at a better time. 4.5 out of 5.
For this week’s Weekly Geeks assignment, I asked you to ask me questions about my recent reads to help me catch up on my reviews. Here are a few related to this great book.
Bart asked “How well does the ‘letter’ narrative suit the story in Last Days of Summer?”
I think the epistolary format was the perfect way to tell this story. Joey and Charlie have unique, interesting voices, and it was nice to get to know both of them rather than hearing the whole story from one person’s perspective or from a third-person narrator. I also really loved the additional material—report cards, letters to the President, therapy notes, etc.—that Kluger wove into the story. They provided some of the funniest glimpses into the characters.
Eva wanted to know “Was Charlie Banks a real person? Or is he based on an athlete? What makes the book so funny?”
Charlie Banks is a fictional character, and I don’t think he’s based on any particular real-life athlete, but Kluger acknowledges in an Author’s Note at the end of the book that “Joey’s predicament is actually based on my father’s life when he was the same age, in the same era.” So, the story is inspired by real-life events, though Kluger’s father found his role models in other places.
The book is funny for many reasons, and you really have to read it to get it. Joey is such a clever kid, and the way he ropes an initially hesitant Charlie into friendship is amusing and sweet. At one point, Charlie describes Joey by saying “He is like an earthquake. When it hap[pens you can’t stop it.” Kluger illustrates this multiple times in the narrative as Joey pulls off one crazy feat after another, and it is always entertaining. I like offbeat, creative stories, and this one fits the bill.
Softdrink said “I read Last Days of Summer a few years ago. Unfortunately, I don’t remember much about it. What drew you to this particular book?”
I had never heard of this book until a few weeks ago. I was talking with a teacher I always love sharing reading recommendations with, and she had just finished the book and was raving about it. She handed me a copy, so I read a few pages, and I knew right away that I would enjoy it. I was looking for something to lighten up my reading for summer, and this was perfect.
Have you read Last Days of Summer? Do you want to know something else about it? Ask away, and I’ll respond in comments. And if you’re looking for a great summer read, I hope you’ll add this one to your list.
