A Kid from Marlboro Road

DEBUT Actor and filmmaker Burns’s coming-of-age novel introduces a narrator who dreads turning 13 at summer’s end in 1970s Long Island. Kneeney fears change since his “jerk” teenage brother has long stopped wanting anything to do with their Irish Catholic family. He realizes he’s growing up when he understands he’s too old to do the things he used to with his mom, who loves going to work but turns melancholic at home. When he’s not playing baseball or fishing with his dad, a neighborhood cop, Kneeney writes about his life. He has just earned an A+ for penning a “Jesus poem” at school, along with a trophy from the Catholic Daughters of America, a typewriter from his dad, and a stack of books from his mom. The story begins and ends with Pop McSweeney’s funeral, where Kneeney mourns the loss of his grandpa and his childhood. The novel’s first-person narration aptly presents a boyhood view of family, tradition, and change. Kneeney repeats things he’s heard adults say and explains the world around him. Burns draws his characters from people he knew as a child, giving the novel a memoir-like feel. Backmatter includes several pages of the author’s family photos.