Last Days of Summer by Steve Kluger

Last Days of Summer

This is one of my favorite books.  I am not quite sure why--I don't like books that are in letter or diary format and I don't especially care for baseball.  But, I love this book.  The author tells a story that will make you cry tears of laughter and of sorrow, sometimes on the same page.  It is one that I have to track down and re-read every couple of years.

Set in early 1940s Brooklyn, the story of Joey Margolis, a young Jewish boy living in a tough Italian neighborhood, and his unlikely friendship with Charlie Banks, the all-star third baseman for the Yankees, is told through letters, report cards, and other scrapbook items.