Last Days of Summer

Joey is a young, Jewish boy living in a Catholic neighborhood. When Joey was younger, his father left him and his mother for his secretary. Joey calls her Nana Bert and he is not very fond of her. After Joey’s absence of a father figure, he has been craving to have a dad. Joey swears his father is going to take him to the world fair, but this never happened. Joey is the type of kid who is constantly getting bullied. Joey wants the bullying to stop, so he writes the N.Y. Giants, 3rd baseman, Charlie Banks. Joey wants Charlie to hit a homerun for him and announce it on the radio. He believes if Charlie does this all of the boys will stop beating him up. Instead of telling the truth about being bullied, Joey makes up stories about his life and how he has all of these illnesses and diseases. Charlie soon realizes that these letters are fake and becomes furious with Joey. He writes letters back, calling him names and telling him never to write back again, but Joey keeps on persisting and Charlie keeps writing back. Later on in the book, it seemed as if Charlie took on the role of Joey’s father. He stood up for him in dangerous situations, took care of him when he was “drunk” and Charlie always had Joey’s best interest at mind.
Charlie Banks always had a perfect record in baseball until little Joey came into his life. It seemed as if Joey was playing a mind game with Charlie. He soon began dropping many baseballs and his team was on a losing streak. Charlie couldn’t’ understand why. Also, Charlie has always been a troublemaker. He was constantly getting into fights with other players and the umpire. Not only was Charlie a troublemaker, but also he was scared to be in a serious relationship. His brother Harlan passed away when he was younger. From reading this, it seemed like Charlie had a very close relationship with Harlan. We don’t know why or how Harlan died, but maybe Charlie is feeling the guilt of his brother’s death. In losing his brother, Charlie might have felt that he is not worth hiving his heart to someone. In my opinion though, Hazel, his girlfriend, is the love of his life and he is scared of commitment. Why is Charlie scared of commitment? He doesn’t want to lose the one person he truly loves.
The way this novel is written coveys the book really well. Last Days of Summer displays how Joey goes from a young boy who strives for attention to a young boy who can stand up for himself. Joey used to make up radical stories about his life and now he is becoming more emotional now that he has a “father figure” and someone he can relate to. Also, how Charlie goes from a rough, partying, “player” type of guy, to a mellow, caring person. Charlie used to be rowdy and now he is emotional because he realizes that love can change who you are. Overall, this books shows the emotional triumphs both Joey and Charlie accomplish together.