These are 2 books that I read about two very different boys growing up in the United States around the time of the Depression and WWII. The first one, the boy was born in the U.S. In the second one, the boy was born in Greece, but comes to the U.S. as a young boy. Both were very engaging and entertaining, despite the unfortunate times they were living in. They’re both very sweet and tender and ordinary in the best sense of that word. These were 2 books that I read late into the night.
Growing Up by Russell Baker.
Eleni by Nicholas Gage.
Running With Scissors by Agusten Burroughs. The book was great, the movie stank. This is about a kid who grows up in a loving household until his parents get a divorce, then everything changes, his mother is nuerotic and starts seeing a psychiatrist. Eventually they move the young boy, about aged 12 at this point, into the household of the psychiatrist, because she can’t cope with raising a child. Turns out that the psychatrist is crazy too. If you think about this whole situation, it should (and really is) very sad, but Augusten Burroughs is able to write about this, looking back as if the whole thing was a very funny farce. You will indeed LOL.
Me Talk Pretty Some Day by David Sedaris. A hilarious look at a gay man’s upbringing in suburban, 1960’s America and then later his time living with his boyfriend in France and trying to learn to speak French, properly.
A Girl Named Zippy about a girl growing up in the Midwest, in the 1960’s. I can totally relate to this sweet, funny story. By Haven Kimmel.