Grandpa used to be the one to make demands of me. Now he’s almost completely gone. His brain is, anyway. His body’s as strong as the day he stormed the beach at Normandy. Maybe stronger.

Gabe LoScuda is no ordinary 18-year-old.  After his parents die in a car accident, he’s the caretaker of his eighty-year-old grandfather who has Alzheimer’s, and he’s also the “babysitter” of his estranged Uncle Nick, or as his dad put it, “that drunken, good-for-nothing loser kid brother of mine”.  Don’t fret. Gabe has a support system.  His best friend John “the Asian Michael Jackson” and his new friend and tatoo artist, Sofia Flores, who ” is pretty in her own way, but she likes to poke holes in herself”.

As Gabe tries to get his life in order by getting a new job and trying to keep his head above water, another tragedy happens where a little boy down the street is injured by a hit and run driver.  And Gabe’s car was identified at the scene of the crime.

This book blew me away!  It’s a coming of age story about a young man with integrity and wit who steps up and becomes an adult in an instant.   You’re going to love Gabe with his awkwardness and bravery, John, who has Gabe’s back in every way, Sofia, with her strength, Uncle Nick with his weaknesses and Grandpa with his enthusiasm and love for Gabe.  Alzheimer’s is such a heartbreaking disease for everyone involved, and Mr. Morelli tells this story with grace, humor and enlightenment.  The book is available on February 20.  Pre-order it now!  You’ll be glad you did.

Thank you to Mr. Morelli and Fish Out of Water Books for giving me the opportunity to review his book!

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Frank Morelli has been a teacher, a coach, a bagel builder, a stock boy, a pretzel salesman, a bus driver, a postal employee, a JC Penney model (see: clerk), an actual clerk (like in the movie of the same name), a camp counselor, a roving sports reporter, and a nuclear physicist (okay, maybe that’s not true). At heart, he’s a writer, and that’s all he’s ever been. His fiction and essays have appeared in more than thirty publications, including The Saturday Evening Post, Cobalt Review, Philadelphia Stories, Jersey Devil Press, and Indiana Voice Journal. His sports-themed column—“Peanuts & Crackerjacks”—appears monthly at Change Seven Magazine.

A Philadelphia native, Frank now lives near Greensboro, NC in a tiny house under the trees with his best friend and muse, their obnoxious alley cats, and two hundred pounds worth of dog.

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