and tender novel...The overall effect is one of high hilarity. Raucher is a comic-artist who is able to convey the fears and joys...of the boy and at the same time give older readers a wrench in the heart. " -​PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

A classic coming-of-age story and international bestseller.

Captivating and evocative, Herman Raucher's semi-autobiographical tale has been made into a record-breaking Academy Award nominated hit movie, adapted for the stage, and enchanted readers for generations.

In the summer of 1942, Hermie is fifteen. He is wildly obsessed with sex, and passionately in love with an "older woman" of twenty-two, whose husband is overseas and at war. Ambling through Nantucket Island with his friends, Hermie's indelible narration chronicles his frantic efforts to become a man, especially one worthy of the lovely Dorothy, as well as his glorious and heartbreaking initiation into sex.