My Most Excellent Year (Katie Belanger) (Kayla Levreault)

Title: My Most Excellent Year
Author: Steve Kluger
Publisher: Penguin Group
Pages: 403
Where I found this book: At school when they were sold during lunch.
Brief Summary:
The story is about three teens named T.C., Alejandra (Al), and Augie that go through the high school experience together in the Boston, MA area. Throughout the whole book, T.C. is trying to capture Als heart while Augie falls in love with a jock named Andy Wexler. The teens go through an everyday norm till one day T.C. came across a boy named Hucky who was telling him when to swing as he played baseball. T.C. then finds out that Hucky is a deaf orphan that can read peoples body movements and lips. T.C. and his friends slowly began to realize that Hucky was waiting for Mary Poppins to come and take him away from the orphanage. T.C. sees that Huckys dream of being with Mary Poppins was getting a bit out of hand so he took him to New York during an AIDS benefit convention where Julia Andrews is hosting. Hucky finally got to meet her and saw that T.C. and his family are is Mary Poppins. T.C.s family eventually adopts Hucky and gives him the family he has always wanted. T.C. and Augie finally get their dream loves as they end their most excellent year.
Who is the audience of book?
I think this book is for anyone willing read it because of how easy it is for someone to get hooked on it.
What is the authors writing style?
The author writes in an informal, first person way that uses text messages, emails and newspapers to make each conversation more realistic. Kluger also switches the point of view of the story in each chapter by rotating it from T.C., Augie, and Al. The author does this so the reader can see how each character reacts towards each situation rather than having the story single handedly told by one mindset.
Instant Messenger
AugieHwong: When he made sure our fingers were locked together, I figured it probably qualified as hand-holding.
TCKeller: Nothing gets by you, does it? (179)
Passages that struck me and why
1. Just before pitch number four, the kid and I locked eyes like we were finally in synch, and he nodded his head yes. This time I swung the bat with every muscle I had, and the next thing I saw was the ball clearing left fieldjust the way of Carlton Fisks did in 1975. (98)
This passage made me think of how T.C. just saw Hucky for the first time and how he put his trust in this kid to swing at the right time when he did not even know him when he was playing baseball.
2. Look, Andy, I said firmly, breaking the twenty-three minute deadlock. I dont know what the hell yourbut thats as far as I got. Because without any warning at all, he yanked me close, andeye wide with terrorkissed me. Right there in the Prudential Center elevator. (330)
This passage struck me because throughout the whole novel, Augie wanted Andy to kiss him. He obsessed over Andy constantly and he could not stop thinking of how their first kiss would be. This passage made me laugh because of how Augie did not suspect it coming at all till it happened.
3. Ms. Andrews, I blurted, coming out from under the fire extinguisher while Hucky followed me cautiously, my name is Anthony Keller and this is Hucky Harper. You sent him a letter, but we forgot to tell you that he thinks you are Marry Poppins, and he doesnt understand why you havent come to live with him yet. (373)
This passage is the turning point in the novel. It is when Hucky begins to see he has his own kind of Mary Poppins with T.C.s family and he meets the real Mary Poppins, Julie Andrews.
How I interacted with the book
This book made me relate to children who do not have easy childhoods. Most of them feel like they are neglected and are alone in the world so have a fantasy of having a Mary Poppins like figure come and make everything better in their life. In the novel, T.C. and Hucky wanted a Mary Poppins to come and help them when they needed her. For T.C., it was when his mother died and Hucky needed her to get him out of the orphanage. This novel showed me that everyone needs some kind of a Mary Poppins figure in their life to help them out or it would be hard for a kid to move on when bad things happen.

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My Most Excellent YearSteve KlugerPenguin Group383Ms.Mazur recommended the book to me in the library. My Most Excellent Year is about three young teenagers going through high school. Ale is from a very religious family and wants to be on Broadway, so she is leading a double life so her family won't find out. Augie is gay and everyone knows it except himself. T.C. is the main character and he is best friends with Augie, they even consider themselves brothers. T.C. falls for Ale and throughout the book he is trying to get her to fall for him also. T.C. also befriends a 6 year old deaf boy at a baseball game. As the book goes on T.C. becomes a big brother to Hucky. The whole book is written in journal entries and instant messages. They are in 11th grade but they are looking back and reflecting on their freshmen year of high school. The audience for this book is definitely teenage girls because the book is very feminine and relates well to girls. The author writing style was very teenage and to the point. The author used instant messages to show how teenagers would talk.

From: augie@augiehwong.com
To: TCKeller@earthworks.net

[DRAMATIC PAUSE.] You’re joking, right?

Quotes:
“’T.C.! Come quick! Look who’s here! Your balloon came back!’” (pg. 220)
I chose this quote because T.C. looses his mother and this is an experience with his mother that he will never forget.
“Today Hucky came over to our house with somebody named Alice Trumbo from Social Services.” (pg.228)
I picked this quote because Hucky is an orphan who finds a family with T.C. and Augie. I liked this because it shows that even though they are teenagers they can care for somebody deeply.
“AlePerez: The audition’s not ‘til Tuesday. I’m going to sing ‘One Boy.’”
This quote shows the double life that Ale is living because her family does not believe that people should be performing, they believe that everyone should be dedicated to their schoolwork.

I related to this book in many ways. The whole book is about teenagers going through high school and the high school experience is very similar for everyone. I really liked how diverse everyone was. Augie is Asian, Ale is from royalty and T.C. was your regular kid.