My Most Excellent Year: A Novel of Love, Mary Poppins, and Fenway Park

My Most Excellent Year - An Excellent Book

The book is told in three-way narration, by three high schoolers: the sexy and confident Alejandra/Alé, charming and humble baseball fanatic Anthony/T.C., and his best friend, the devoted, talented, Augie. All have first loves and crushes along the way - T.C. and Alé, Alé and T.C., and Augie and Andy Wexler. All have trouble getting to their high school happy ending, but that's what the book is about. Each character is extremely lovable, Alé with her sheer wit and secret star-quality dancing, T.C. with his big heart and care for others, and Augie with his utter goofiness and love of the arts. I also really like the writing style and the fondness one begins to feel for each character. Although the characters are younger than I am - freshmen, I forgot to care. The major themes were to be true to yourself, that families are made up of all kinds of people, and to never give up on friends or well, life in general. Relating to myself, the characters are all young adults, what's not to relate to? The embarrassing parents, the crushes, the stress, the hard work, the rewards. it's all there. I also related to each character's journey to find themselves, simply by living life. I highly recommend this book!

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Loved it!

As a bookseller at a B&N retail store, I'm was surprised that I actually came across this book at an independent bookstore. I ordered it into our store and many of us there are reading it and loving it!! The characters are charming and the tone of family, love and acceptance really touched my heart.
Lisa - bookseller in Carmel, IN

I also loved:
The Color of Water by James McBride
Water For Elephants by Sara Gruen
Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Awesome book

I loved his book. I thought it was a little lengthy switching between three people but it was a wonderful story about two "brothers" each falling in love.

Really good book!

My Most Excellent Year by: Steve Kluger is an amazingly written, extremely entertaining, adorable, fun read for teens. It is the story of three high schoolers and their changes in friendships throughout the book. The characters are Alejandra a sassy, confident, beautiful girl, T.C./ Anthony, a funny, humble, baseball loving boy, and his best friend Augie, a goofy, loyal, gay boy. These characters are extremely relatable and interesting. The book is about T.C.'s love from Alejandra and him trying to get her to like him and Alejandra secretly falling for him too but not admitting it. Also it follows Augie's relationship with a boy named Andy Wexler. Somewhere in the middle of it all T.C. makes friends with a deaf eight year-old boy. It is so fun to get to know each character and watch as they connect and grow throughout high school. I recommend this book to teens or anyone looking for a fun, easy read. Reviewed by: Grace E.

A must pick up book to read

Three lives, one excellent year. Three teens enter their freshmen year in high school. Where they fellow their paths becoming who they really are. On a 1 through 10 scale, I gave this book 10!!!

A cute read!

4 STARS---This was rated as a YABA read for South Carolina, and being an English teacher I figured I would give it a try. The story is told from the point of view of the kids that were brought together through life circumstances and depend on one another weather they know it or not. I was entertaining from beginning to end. The story moved along nicely and being a lover of musicals, the multiple references to theater were greatly appreciated! I would recommend this book to 8th graders - high school sophomores. Especially those who live the thespian lifestyle or those who appreciate true friendship and all it can over come.

love it!!!!!!!

i absolutely fell in love with the characters. They are all so funny with each other and the book is very well written its self.
definately a must read for anyone out there.

Loved it!!!!! So good - Nice to See an author write that's not so well-known and produce a really excellent novel!

Steve Kluger - never heard of him before I saw this book - is one amazing author. I am forever reading not-so-well-known books and loving them just as much as a Sarah Dessen or Meg Cabot novel. This one really rocked. And I'm not just saying it because I am a Broadway/Red Sox fan.
Usually when books are written with more than one point of view, there are two people sharing their thoughts. However, in this novel, Steve Kluger told the very different stories of three unique teenagers, secretly longing to find themselves in a world full of the same personality types.

It is a very fast read: there are prints of flyers and posters and letters inside on the pages, which makes it more enjoyable and different from all other Young Adult reads. So cute. And if you're a Yankees fan - you'll like it too. I promise.

Sweet Young Readers Book

So many different types of friends and friendships during the difficult period of highschool. I really enjoyed this sweet story and would recommend it.

Okay!

Okay, the first thing you should know about MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR is that it is utterly ridiculous. But wait! Luckily, this is a good ridicule: the characters especially are amazingly--well, if not real, then likeable. You really shouldn't start it unless you've got time to read at least most of it, because one thing you can say about this novel is that it is not only LONG (for some people, but not me--I read Atlas Shrugged in 8 days), but extremely addictive. A happy ending (well mostly--**spoilers**what the hell was that business w/Augie and Andy? I didn't get it.) wraps this mostly epistolary novel up, so if that's your thing, go for it. Five stars.

The Best Book In The WORLD

My Most Excellent Year is a very very very very very very funny book. It shoes how kids grow and what challenges they face going through highschool. One character named TC has a crush on a girl in his school but the girl is very hesitant to dating TC. Another character named Augie discovers he is gay. It is hard for him because he has to hide it and eplains the toubles he faces going through school. He eventualy gets a boyfriend but the boyfriend hasn't quiet figured everything out. My Most Excellent Year is a very funny book that shoul be read by everybody.

As usual - excellent transportation to another world...

Mr. Kluger's books are ones I have come to be on edge and impatient in anticipation of the next one. His sense of humor and uncanny ability to make his characters real and relatable - alive and funny and a true page turner, then sad when you have figured there's no more to read...until next time?

Reviewed by Randstostipher "tallnlankyrn" Nguyen for TeensReadToo.com

T.C., originally Anthony Conigliaro Keller, was born into a family who loves baseball, and speaks with a very distinct accent. Like his family, T.C. loves the sport and practically knows all there is to know about baseball. It certainly helps him with his grades; if only it could help him get the girl of his dreams. With quite an odd family, a knack at frustrating those around him, making sure he only gets a B+ on everything (except for algebra, since he isn't a poser), and being a trendsetter, T.C.'s life completely changed when his mother passed away.

Augie, T.C.'s non-biological, Chinese brother, became his best friend after his mother died, helping him cope. With a love for theater, movies, and everything dramatic, Augie definitely hasn't found his true identity yet, even though everyone around him, especially the ones he loves, has. Besides theatrics, Augie is a pretty good soccer player, especially when he is playing with T.C. Of course, these distractions can't possibly pull his mind away from how his heart is pulling him in a very different direction.

Alejandra, a.k.a. T.C.'s dream girl, has never fit in, both at school or home. With a father who was the ambassador to Mexico, her dream was never with politics like her brother but more towards dance, which she must keep a secret. Because of her father, Alejandra has been able to meet some very famous politicians and celebrities. Of course, all of the famous people she met didn't help her status in school, since she was automatically considered stuck-up. But T.C. still loves her, except she doesn't love him back, or so she thinks. Not one to hide her opinions, who wouldn't be scared of her?

Beginning in their late junior year, the three flash back to their freshmen year... their most excellent year.

The year where love, sexuality, identity, friendship, and strength were discovered. Each one writing in the diaries for their English class, all addressed to an important person: T.C. to his mama, Augie to the diva of the week, and Alejandra to Jacqueline, the wife of her favorite president, JFK.

Laughter, tears, and relief will be felt by not only the characters but also the readers. MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR takes three very distinct, honest teens who all have problems of their own, and who need each other desperately in the end. Steve Kluger allows the reader to have a close interaction with the characters, who are all very well-developed and defined, making the story all the more enjoyable.

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