The book starts with a reunion of sorts where the hero finds his one time tormentor in a wheelchair after suffering an accident and then, his crush or his fantasy, Belinda, now the size of a house and a grandmom and seemingly available. His mind then goes back to his days as a eleven year old - back in 1969.
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We go through a rollercoaster of the 60s things - music, movies, girls, political happenings an it looks like a journal until it catches fire - our hero sleeps with his best friend's sister who is much younger than he is but more experienced than he is. And then, he discovers he has feelings for his same best friends mom and wonder of wonders, discovers that Ms Penny or Penelope also has certain feelings for him which comes from his being mild or whatever. Anyway there's no escaping the fact that she is more imaginative and adventurous and experienced than he is so she takes him on a rollercoaster romantic affair. There's a bittersweet element to it, to her romance as she lets him go, her last vestige of reliving her youth or romance, yet keeps a lovely gift of a ring for him and the memory of their last meeting at Wickets.
The end makes up for everything. Its beautiful, bittersweet. And coming back to his present the hero knows Penny is long gone, but her memory is as sweet and as painful as ever.
One heck of a coming of age novel.
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