Last Days of Summer

The book, Last Days of Summer, is not written like a style that I am familiar with. The book uses an epistolary style, which means that it is written with letters. Although this is new to me, the author’s letters help you develop a deeper understanding of the character’s lives. When reading Last Days of Summer, you come across letters, report cards, and newspaper clippings.

The book opens with a mischievous boy, Joey Margolis, who is determined to get the attention of his favorite baseball player on the New York Giants, Charlie Banks. Joey Margolis is one of the main characters of the book. He is a smart, educated twelve-year-old boy whose father had abandoned him and his mother. Since Charlie doesn’t have a father figure in his life he turns to the help of Charlie Banks. Charlie Banks is the third baseman for the baseball team the New York Giants.

We learn that Joey makes up his own rules, because he is in a police station for peeing in the reservoir. Soon after this Joey starts contacting Charlie Banks.  Since Joey was Jewish many of the other children in the neighborhood beat him up. He would get beat up on account that he was the only Jewish boy in the neighborhood and he lived in a time of great prejudice. These are not normal beatings; these boys were causing lacerations on his face. So Joey reaches out to Charlie Banks to prevent this from happening to him. This is how the letters start. Joey makes up diseases to get Charlie’s attention, after many failed attempts Joey turns to an archivist that gives Joey information of Charlie. It doesn’t take long before you can tell that Joey and Charlie develop a good relationship because the tone of his letters changes. In the beginning, they were not nice to each other, but later they were calling each other nicknames.

As their relationship grows, each characters persona is developing. Charlie does not appear to be as well educated.  His letters contain numerous misspellings and misstatements. For example, on page 187, Charlie answered Joey’s letter and said, “This is my favorite part. But make sure it was L. Armstrong who said it because I think it might have been Satchmo.” Satchmo and Louis Armstrong are the same person!

 Charlie Banks and Joey develop a strong bond that is evident from the letters. The reader learns their political affiliation, love life, and secrets they have been keeping. On page, 85, Charlie writes to Joey saying, “Harlan was my big brother. He was the best friend I ever had and the only one I ever loved until Hazel. When he got hit in the head from a pitch he hung on for 4 days before he died. That’s what kind of kid I was.” Later in the book Joey finds out that Charlie is keeping to himself how Harlan really died.

Because the book is written in an epistolary style, the writing also exhibits attitude. The report cards tell us what kind of attitude Joey has, because the teacher comments on his behavior. The newspaper clippings that are also included the book show that Charlie is quick tempered because of the many brawls he gets in during baseball games.

The style that Steve Kluger uses allows the reader to go deeper into the character’s lives, and really understand what is happening, as they grow older. One can relate to their own personal experience and perhaps even see a little of themselves in the characters on the book.