Official Review: Summer in the City by Kevin Phelps

[Brenda Creech]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Summer in the City" by Kevin Phelps.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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Summer in the City by Kevin Phelps is the fictional coming of age story of Corey Mack, a fourteen-year-old boy living in Chicago and spending the summer of 1966 working toward buying a new coat for school. It was not just any coat; it was a "thermal reversible with zippers and a hideaway hood." Corey was working two summer jobs as a delivery boy and a summer counselor. His mother was an alcoholic, and his stepfather, whom he barely knew, was finishing a ten-year prison term and would get paroled that summer. Corey and his mom lived in an "upper lower class apartment" in an area that was "neither slum nor ghetto nor urban blight upon the senses," is how Corey described it.

Corey was on his own most of the time due to his mother's excessive drinking. Chicago held plenty of crime and action that summer, from suicide by an eccentric man in Corey's apartment building that turned into a major crime scene when police made a gruesome discovery; to a tragedy that struck his best friend, Izzy Zielinski's family. Corey was attacked and severely beaten by a gang of five in an alley, which cost him his job as a delivery boy, and left him unable to work for a week as a counselor. Corey had heard and seen things that summer no fourteen-year-old should have to hear or see. When he found newspaper clippings hidden inside his mother's magazine about "The Biggest Bank Robbery in the World," it raised his suspicion. Now he "knew what he wasn't supposed to know," and it left him with "questions he wasn't supposed to ask." He wanted to ask his mom just one question. Did he ever get the answer?

Phelps developed a creative cast of characters. Corey, the protagonist, was the center of the story, and I felt his personality fit flawlessly. The author also gave a few backstories of Corey and some of the characters that included historical facts, which I found interesting. He gave a detailed account of two articles about the bank robbery. I feel there was too much information about how the theft took place, which made the lengthy description monotonous. I was disappointed with the ending of the story, but you will have to read the book to find out why.

The part I liked most was Corey's relationship with girls. Susan O'Shaugnessy, who wanted to go out with him, was in constant pursuit. Tova Gidowski, who was two years older than Corey and his "secret confidant on all matters relating to sex," was always trying to make him jealous. What I disliked most was the author's tendency to use an elaborate vocabulary. Multiple words used in the book are challenging to pronounce, and the average person has possibly never heard them. For example, words like vicissitudes, obfuscating, and coruscations, to name a few, and I feel it will be a hindrance to many readers.

I found grammatical and punctuation errors that were distracting and led me to wonder about professional editing. The protagonist's characterization was spot on for the 1960s, and the author's writing style was professional and creative. However, the number of errors and frequent elaborate words made it challenging to stay focused throughout the book. For those reasons, I am giving Summer in the City by Kevin Phelps 3 out of 4 stars.

I would recommend this book to a general audience interested in what it was like in the 1960s. There is profanity not suitable for young teens and talk of intimate issues in puberty, but there are no erotic scenes.

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Summer in the City
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[Priyanka2304]

This story has a lot of elements to look for. Thanks for the review.

[Joseph_ngaruiya]

A lot of things can happen to a fourteen-year-old boy. I feel pity for Corey. You ignited my curiosity about how he copes with everything. I'd love to read this book. My special regards go to you for a thorough review.

[Gabrielle Sigaki]

This historical fiction brings a lot of themes, such as violence. It has an interesting plot. I wonder how Corey will deal with this question with his mother. He seems to be an engaging protagonist. Thanks for the insightful review!

[Elvis Best]

Corey sounds like a very interesting yet complicated character. I enjoyed reading this lovely review. Good job!

[Harty Muli]

I like this book for highlighting the problem of alcoholism and crime through the story of Corey. Thanks for the insightful review.

[Brenda Creech]

This story has a lot of elements to look for. Thanks for the review.

Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[Brenda Creech]

A lot of things can happen to a fourteen-year-old boy. I feel pity for Corey. You ignited my curiosity about how he copes with everything. I'd love to read this book. My special regards go to you for a thorough review.

Thanks for such kind words, and thanks for stopping by!

[Brenda Creech]

This historical fiction brings a lot of themes, such as violence. It has an interesting plot. I wonder how Corey will deal with this question with his mother. He seems to be an engaging protagonist. Thanks for the insightful review!

Yes, it does bring a lot of themes to the surface. There was so much to be said about the book there wasn't room in a review to say it all! Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[Brenda Creech]

Corey sounds like a very interesting yet complicated character. I enjoyed reading this lovely review. Good job!

Thank you for your kind comments! I appreciate them.

[Brenda Creech]

I like this book for highlighting the problem of alcoholism and crime through the story of Corey. Thanks for the insightful review.

Yes, it highlighted a lot of different issues. Thanks for stopping by and commenting!

[Juliet+1]

I love the title of this book; it made me go to Youtube and play the song a few times. The story sounds interesting, but I'm not sure about reading it because I hate disappointing endings. But your review was excellent; it so clearly identified the good and bad points of the book.

[Brenda Creech]

I love the title of this book; it made me go to Youtube and play the song a few times. The story sounds interesting, but I'm not sure about reading it because I hate disappointing endings. But your review was excellent; it so clearly identified the good and bad points of the book.

Thank you so much! I love that song, I can recall hearing it a lot during my teenage years! Thanks for commenting.

[Joan64]

Thanks for the review. I would love read this book, at least to find out how corey overcame all the challenges he was facing at a tender age.

[Sanju Lali]

A thermal reversible coat with zippers and a hideaway hood looks quite interesting in this science fiction book. Thanks for your nice review.