My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger

My Most Excellent Year by Steve Kluger is a novel about first love, frienship, family, and letting people in your heart and letting them love you back. T.C. and Augie have been brothers since they were six. When T.C. lost his mother the only person who seemed to handle and understand what T.C. was going through was Augie. They since declared themselves brothers. What's biology anyway? Now they're freshman in high school and everything begins to change. T.C. is falling in love with Alejandra, who is trying her best to push him away as far as possible. Augie likes boys? And a six-year old Hucky comes into their lives to forever change the way they think and love each other. And baseball. There is a LOT of baseball.

This heart-felt novel is flawless. It has drama (Augie knows everyone from Liza Minelli to Barbara Streisand-and can countlessly quote them): a hilarious talent show and show stopping production of Bye Bye Birdie. It has a whole lot of love. The parents of Augie and T.C. really know their kids and their relationships are pine-worthy. And it had rock-solid friendships. You will want to have Augie and T.C.'s relationship by the end of this novel.

My favorite part, however, was Hucky. The six-year deaf kid who doesn't have parents and has almost a magical ability to call pitches. He is the shining character in my opinion. He's the only one who really has any flaws (try not to melt at his mad face- I dare you) and he works through them and everyone falls in love with him. Really, he's the only character who grows exponentially through out the novel. He's adorable and funny. And he loves Mary Poppins-with taste like that how can you refuse to love him?

This book, however unrealistic, tries to achieve a LOT of things. From political to emotional it strives to be on a whole other level of reading. And it succeeds for the most part with optimism, hilarity, and tenderness. I recommend this book to anyone who has a best friend, or loves baseball, or loves theatre and humor, or especially who has any tiny soft spot for love.

Rating: 4.5