Author: Steve Kluger
What it’s about (in 75 words or fewer): TC, Augie, and Alè tell stories of their freshman year in high school. When TC was six, his mother died, and TC and Augie became close friends and "brothers." Alè is new in school, the daughter of the US ambassador to Mexico, and secretly taking singing and dancing lessons. TC develops an instant crush on her. Meanwhile, Augie comes into his own as a fabulous, singer-dancer-actor, taking the school by storm in Kiss Me Kate.
What I think: Wow, I am not sure I can adequately describe how much I loved this book. I think I will just list some of the awesome parts of the book below:
- TC Keller: aka Anthony Conigliaro Keller (yes, this is the character's "Facebook profile", love it!), knows TONS of baseball trivia. Adopts Augie Hwong as his brother (I am 100% enjoying whatever teacher assigned "create Facebook profiles" as a book report assignment). Adopts Hucky Harper, learns sign language to communicate with him. Aaaawwwwwwww.
- Augie Hwong: "Doesn't know he's gay yet" per TC, his father, and pretty much everyone else. Obsessed with old movie starlets ("Divas of the Week"), such as Judy Garland, Liza Minnelli, and Natalie Wood. Fabulous director, singer, actor, and dancer. Stars in Kiss Me Kate along with Alè. Brings down the house with his renditions of "Too Darn Hot" and "Always True to You in My Fashion."
- Alè Perez: Daughter of the US ambassador to Mexico. Knows a lot of famous people and politicians. Takes singing and dance lessons on the sly. Obsessed with JFK and Jackie O. Works with TC to convince politicians to help restore baseball diamonds at Manzanar.
- Lisa, Augie's Mom: Known as the "Lizzie Borden of drama critics." Look for her short, brutal analysis of Carousel.
- Ted, TC's dad: On-again, off-again "romance?" with Lori, TC's school adviser.
- Bonus: The book is written in a multi-genre style, in text messages, emails, letters, newspaper editorials, diary entries, and more. This works very well for the characters and the story.
- One minor quibble: I hate the "girl clearly rejects boy's attention in no uncertain terms, but boy wears her down with friendship and she eventually loves him" trope; it sends a terrible message to everyone (Guys? When she says no, that does not mean SHE JUST NEEDS TO BE CONVINCED. Girls? If he doesn't give up, that does not mean HE IS PERFECT AFTER ALL. Just STAHP).
I say minor quibble, however, because although it made me roll my eyes (and it was used with TWO female characters), it didn't affect my overall enjoyment of the book.
This book is on the 2009 Rainbow Book List.
My final takeaway (in 75 words or fewer): I love, love, LOVE this book, and I can't wait to read it again. If I could turn this book into a literal teddy bear and snuggle with it, I would!
My Most Excellent Year wins a permanent spot on my bookshelf and also the coveted WCTB award.
Memorable quotes/passages from the book (Aaaaaannnnd they're all about Augie. I love Augie):
- "Anthony must have gotten him to watch Casablanca again. And he is handling this better as Ingrid Bergman" (hardback edition, pg. 81).
- "AugieHwong: Does everybody else know? . . . About my being gay, you gink-head hoser-face!
TCKeller: Not everybody. There's a night watchman at Dunkin' Donuts just outside of Detroit. He doesn't know yet" (pg. 107).
- "And while I was tucking him in, I realized that we'd never had the 'I'm gay' conversation. Has this generation finally made it superfluous? If only" (pg. 188).
- "Tick, if we're going to be flying up any chimneys to dance on rooftops, please let me know ahead of time. Because I don't want to be wearing my Versace slacks" (pg. 287).
Other reviews: Harvard Educational Review and Jen Robinson's Book Page
This book is available in the Greensboro Public Library.
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