Kluger, Steve.
MY MOST EXCELLENT YEAR : A NOVEL OF LOVE, MARY POPPINS, & FENWAY PARK
New York : Dial Books, 2008
IL YA
ISBN: 0803732278 

(2 booktalks)

Dear Anthony:

I appreciate your recent interest, but I'm not accepting applications at this time. Your letter will be kept in our files and someone will get back to you if there is an opening. Thank you for thinking of me.

Respectfully,
Alejandra Perez

P.S. It's not “Allie.” It's “Ale.”

Meet T.C., who is valiantly attempting to get Alejandra to fall in love with him; Alejandra, who is playing hard to get and is busy trying to sashay out from under the responsibilities of being a diplomat's daughter; and T.C.'s brother Augie, who is gay and in love and everyone knows it but him. (from the Penguin.com website http://us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780803732278,00.html?My_Most_Excellent_Year_Steve_Kluger)
 (Rhode Island Teen Book Award nominee, 2010)

Booktalk #2

“Even though I didn’t notice it while it was happening, I got reminded in ninth grade of a few things I guess I should have know all along: 1. A first kiss after five months means more than a first kiss after five minutes. 2. Always remember what it was like to be six. 3. Never, ever stop believing in magic, no matter how old you get. Because if you keep looking long enough and don’t give up, sooner or later you’re going to find Mary Poppins.”

T.C. Keller is a native Bostonian who loves the Red Sox. His whole family is named after members of former Red Sox greats. Baseball is his life. T.C.’s mother died when he was young. He and his father are two of a kind who believe doing school projects to the fullest, even if it means making a 70 square inch model of the Washington Mall. T. C.’s best friend is Augie, an “ABC,” American Born Chinese. His father owns a bookstore while his mom reviews plays. Augie and T.C. have been friends, “brothers,” since they were six years old. Augie loves musicals and Liza Minelli. Everyone has figured out that Augie is gay but Augie. Alejandra, Ale, is the daughter of the former ambassador of Mexico. Her family has recently come to Boston because her father accepted a teaching position at Harvard. She tends to speak her mind, which gets her in trouble with her father. She secretly wants to sing and perform on stage. Freshman year is a time of change for the three of them. During a writing assignment, they remember letters, memos, chats, and texts that helped them find themselves. New friendships, loves, and causes make them realize what is important.
Prepared by: Julie Vaught for South Carolina Young Adult Book Award Nominees, 2010-2011