SUMMERLINGS

Eight-year-old John revels in summertime hijinks with his two best friends while storm clouds gather all around, obscuring the sun.

Howorth (Flying Shoes, 2014) first introduces John on a tour of the verdant suburban street where he lives outside of Washington, D.C., with his sister, Liz, and their grandparents Brickie and Dimma. John’s parents are divorced. His dad is an unemployed drinker and carouser, and his mother, who may or may not have tuberculosis, has been in a hospital for two years. Tensions roil under the calm lawns of idyllic Connors Lane. John rides his bike, catches spiders, and hatches strategies with his best buds, Ivan and Max. But there’s an undercurrent of unhappiness and distrust on the tree-lined streets of the neighborhood. It’s 1959, and just about everybody hails from a different country impacted by World War II. The cold war on Connors Lane seems especially frigid. The people who live next door carried their prejudices and hatreds with them when they crossed the Atlantic. John and his friends develop their own version of the Marshall Plan to bring everyone together: the Beaver Plan, a blowout party/fiesta organized over the course of a summer. The three boys idealize Ivan’s stylish young aunt, Elena, who helps them prepare for the big event. She smokes Vogues, drinks Cuba Libres, and buys them ice cream. Elena and her brother are Ukrainian immigrants who harbor dark secrets about their past. On the night of the party, a mysterious tragedy occurs. Was it an accident or something more sinister? John, Max, and Ivan will never be the same. Howorth has a gift for crafting memorable characters and an authentic sense of place. She writes with a clear understanding of the catastrophes seeded by intolerance while creating a rich overview of America on the brink of the turbulent 1960s.

An engaging coming-of-age story focused on the unraveling of truths hidden just beneath the surface.