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Ten Again
“Hey, Mike, what’re we gonna do today?”
It’s 1960, and Mike is ten again, at least in his mind. Looking back on his final year of elementary school, he reflects on the many challenges that confronted him then. Junior high and the opposite sex loom on the horizon—his mini-version of the New Frontier. From the neighborhood baseball field to the local movie theatre, from Halloween to Christmas morning, and from Bozo buckets to a once-in-a-lifetime trip across the country to Disneyland, Mike is constantly in motion—and often in trouble. But he has his younger brother Tommy and a few close friends to help him navigate the vast suburban wilderness. This snapshot of a bygone era shows the last generation allowed to be kids taking full advantage of it—and having the time of their lives.
About the
MICHAEL J. BELLITO taught Speech and English, including creative writing classes, at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois, for thirty-two years. He has been previously published in North Shore, a Chicago-area magazine. That piece was a short story about his grandfather entitled “Waiting for a Pennant.” Ten Again is his first novel. He is currently teaching at Harper College, a local community college. Having raised two children, he now lives with his wife in Wheeling, Illinois.
172 pages, Kindle Edition
First published October 1, 2008
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
June 22, 2011
What a fun read! This a great book for anyone who grew up in or around the 1960s or anyone who remembers the 60s and especially for anyone who remembers Chicagoland of that era. Mike Bellito grew up in the Northwest Suburbs. Even though he insists this book is fiction, the 10-year-old main character is named “Mike.” Go figure. What a wonderful trip down memory lane…even for me. I am a bit older than “Mike” and a child of south central Indiana, but I can definitely relate to the specifics of this memoir-turned-novel.
Bellito does a fabulous job of what he no doubt taught his creative writing students at John Hersey High School to do – show, don’t tell. His descriptions are astoundingly specific and that is much of the charm of the book. Even though I didn’t grow up in the Chicago suburbs, many of Bellito’s descriptions are universal for the time he describes. Don’t miss it!
Here’s what another reviewer says: '’Ten Again' is a memoir-style gem that accurately captures the innocence of boyhood during the innocence of America; pre-Kennedy assassination. Bellito's voice as narrator rings true on such boyhood topics as baseball, ding-dong ditch, amusement parks, and the newly discovered pleasure of television. This laugh-out-loud recollection of what it meant to be a boy in suburban Chicago during the mid-to late fifties re-creates the lost memories of Riverview Amusement Park and "The BOZO Show" with such vivid portrayals that this Chicago girl heard the voices of her own parents in his narrative. If this beautiful slice of Americana, as told from Mike's point of view, doesn't leave you longing to hop on your bike, drag the toboggan down from the garage rafters, or load the family into the minivan for a trip to the Grand Canyon, then you have forgotten what it's like to be 10; when the only thing holding you back was that you had to return home when the street lights went on.”
I so agree! I’m looking forward to Bellito’s second novel – “First Time Around.” It’s dedicated to his children – Matt and Joy. Both were students of mine at Wheeling High School. They have to be mighty proud of their dad.
Bellito does a fabulous job of what he no doubt taught his creative writing students at John Hersey High School to do – show, don’t tell. His descriptions are astoundingly specific and that is much of the charm of the book. Even though I didn’t grow up in the Chicago suburbs, many of Bellito’s descriptions are universal for the time he describes. Don’t miss it!
Here’s what another reviewer says: '’Ten Again' is a memoir-style gem that accurately captures the innocence of boyhood during the innocence of America; pre-Kennedy assassination. Bellito's voice as narrator rings true on such boyhood topics as baseball, ding-dong ditch, amusement parks, and the newly discovered pleasure of television. This laugh-out-loud recollection of what it meant to be a boy in suburban Chicago during the mid-to late fifties re-creates the lost memories of Riverview Amusement Park and "The BOZO Show" with such vivid portrayals that this Chicago girl heard the voices of her own parents in his narrative. If this beautiful slice of Americana, as told from Mike's point of view, doesn't leave you longing to hop on your bike, drag the toboggan down from the garage rafters, or load the family into the minivan for a trip to the Grand Canyon, then you have forgotten what it's like to be 10; when the only thing holding you back was that you had to return home when the street lights went on.”
I so agree! I’m looking forward to Bellito’s second novel – “First Time Around.” It’s dedicated to his children – Matt and Joy. Both were students of mine at Wheeling High School. They have to be mighty proud of their dad.
March 27, 2022
A+++! I truly felt like I was ten years-old Again! Great Work Mr. B!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews