Search -
My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park
My Most Excellent Year A Novel of Love Mary Poppins and Fenway Park Author:Steve Kluger Dear Anthony: — I appreciate your recent interest, but I’m not accepting applications at this time. Your letter will be kept in our files and someone will get back to you if there is an opening. Thank you for thinking of me. — Respectfully, Alejandra Perez — P.S. It’s not “Allie.” It’s “Ale.” Meet T.C., who is valiantly attempting to get Ale... more »jandra to fall in love with him; Alejandra, who is playing hard to get and is busy trying to sashay out from under the responsibilities of being a diplomat’s daughter; and T.C.’s brother Augie, who is gay and in love and everyone knows it but him.« less
My Most Excellent Year - written in form of diaries, instant messages, e-mails by three teenagers as an assignment for school. Together they explore life and love with their friends and family.
Augie and TC are brothers in all but birth, accepted as such by their respective parents. Their circle opens to include an ambassador's daughter who wants to be an actress, and later a deaf six-year-old with abandoment issues.
It is a lovely story with a feel-good ending - I liked it a lot and I will be looking for other books by Steve Kluger.
Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com
T.C., originally Anthony Conigliaro Keller, was born into a family who loves baseball, and speaks with a very distinct accent. Like his family, T.C. loves the sport and practically knows all there is to know about baseball. It certainly helps him with his grades; if only it could help him get the girl of his dreams. With quite an odd family, a knack at frustrating those around him, making sure he only gets a B+ on everything (except for algebra, since he isn't a poser), and being a trendsetter, T.C.'s life completely changed when his mother passed away.
Augie, T.C.'s non-biological, Chinese brother, became his best friend after his mother died, helping him cope. With a love for theater, movies, and everything dramatic, Augie definitely hasn't found his true identity yet, even though everyone around him, especially the ones he loves, has. Besides theatrics, Augie is a pretty good soccer player, especially when he is playing with T.C. Of course, these distractions can't possibly pull his mind away from how his heart is pulling him in a very different direction.
Alejandra, a.k.a. T.C.'s dream girl, has never fit in, both at school or home. With a father who was the ambassador to Mexico, her dream was never with politics like her brother but more towards dance, which she must keep a secret. Because of her father, Alejandra has been able to meet some very famous politicians and celebrities. Of course, all of the famous people she met didn't help her status in school, since she was automatically considered stuck-up. But T.C. still loves her, except she doesn't love him back, or so she thinks. Not one to hide her opinions, who wouldn't be scared of her?
Beginning in their late junior year, the three flash back to their freshmen year... their most excellent year.
The year where love, sexuality, identity, friendship, and strength were discovered. Each one writing in the diaries for their English class, all addressed to an important person: T.C. to his mama, Augie to the diva of the week, and Alejandra to Jacqueline, the wife of her favorite president, JFK.
Laughter, tears, and relief will be felt by not only the characters but also the readers. MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR takes three very distinct, honest teens who all have problems of their own, and who need each other desperately in the end. Steve Kluger allows the reader to have a close interaction with the characters, who are all very well-developed and defined, making the story all the more enjoyable.
Beth B. reviewed My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park on
I was introducted to this book by a former teacher as a way to make sure it was "appropriate" for the classroom. Although I'm not a huge fan of baseball and I've never seen Mary Poppins, I love this book. Although I do not own it myself, numerous rentals from the library prove that it only gets better in time. 2 years after discovering the book, I fall in love all over again as I read.
