The Old Neighborhood

1942 to 1952-a time of rapid change as seen by a young boy in Chicago

The unconditional love of grandparents
The mother he loved and feared
The competitive, one-of-a-kind father
The neighborhood goes to war
A Jewish family in an Italian Catholic neighborhood
The confessions of a good (most of the time) boy
The missing girl and the thing in the swamp
The ubiquity of radio and the coming of TV
Weekends in those palatial movie theaters
The secrets kept by adults-death, divorce, money, and sex
Games, gangs, and simple pleasures
UFOs and a man from Mars