You and What Army?

In this affecting debut from Gongola, a preteen navigates family strife near the end of the Vietnam War, tries to be a hero, and discovers the truth is not always what it seems. Stevie Stepanek, 11, grows up in a New England mill town, raised by a father who lost both legs as an infantryman in WWII, and who frequently trades barbs with Stevie’s mother, a waitress and heavy smoker. Stevie absorbs his family’s pain even more intensely upon the return from Vietnam of his older brother, Paul, who’s suffering from PTSD and has gone mute. When the Barnes family, who is Black, moves in across the street in their predominantly white neighborhood, Stevie resists his parents’ racist admonishments to stay away from them. He befriends Ronnie, the family’s youngest, and the two become altar boys together. After Stevie begins to suspect their priest, Father Gabe, of molesting Ronnie, he sets out with Ronnie’s brother Marcus to investigate, setting the stage for an improbable plot twist. Much better are the nostalgic scenes of Stevie’s everyday challenges and triumphs, as when he convinces his parents to help him fix up his broken-down Schwinn Sting-Ray, or plays pick-up baseball with his friends. It’s an enjoyable if simplistic trip down memory lane. (Self-published)