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Formats
Ebook Details
  • 11/2018
  • 978-1-5320-5208-8
  • 218 pages
  • $13.99
Paperback Details
  • 11/2018
  • 978-1-5320-5208-8
  • 218 pages
  • $13.99
Steven A Falco
Author
Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run
TJ and Jonathan are teen-age friends and teammates on the JV baseball team. Like many young people growing up in America in the late sixties they have heroes. For TJ, who is white, it is Mickey Mantle, the aging star of the New York Yankees. For Jonathan, who is black, it is Martin Luther King Jr., the leader of the civil rights movement. Their friendship is strained to the breaking point when Martin Luther King Jr. is assassinated. Jonathan, who is shattered by the murder, blames all white people, TJ included. TJ then has to struggle through the challenges of the JV baseball season in his racially torn town, without the support of his friend. But only a similar tragedy, the murder of Senator Robert F. Kennedy, can bring the boys back together again. Combining the heartbreak and hilarity of teen-age life in that tumultuous year, this young adult novel provides a perspective from which to understand the racial issues that still prevail. It appeals not only to young readers but also their baby-boomer parents and grandparents.
Plot/Idea: 7 out of 10
Originality: 7 out of 10
Prose: 8 out of 10
Character/Execution: 8 out of 10
Overall: 7.50 out of 10

Assessment:

Plot/Idea: Falco's novel is not just for baseball fans. It is also for readers that enjoy stories about adolescence and the relationships that shape one's youth. Falco creatively pairs the way that the game of baseball changes and becomes more complicated for T.J. with the way his relationship with his best--and only black--friend Jonathan does as well.

Prose: While the pacing of this story is occasionally slowed down by a lack of paragraph breaks, Falco succeeded at writing a very literary novel. At times T.J.'s internal dialogue can be a little uncomfortable, but it proves authentic for a white teenage boy in the 60s. Falco's storytelling transports readers back in time, while remaining relatable and stirring for today's readers. 

Originality: While the work relies on familiar conventions, Falco's novel tells a challenging, yet heartfelt coming-of-age sports story that utilizes the characters' relationships to mirror the broader societal changes unfolding around them. 

Character/Execution: Falco's novel cleverly begins with a snapshot of the end of the story before rewinding and introducing all the characters and their backgrounds. While T.J. at first seems like a teenage boy that only cares about baseball, he turns out to have much more heart and dimension. Jonathan makes a great foil who will likely leave the readers wanting more of him. In light of these two both being so engaging, their resolution feels somewhat too brief.

Date Submitted: July 04, 2023

Reviews
Falco (Grandpa Gordy's Greatest World Series Games) sets this touching young adult story of sports and unexpected connections in 1968 New Jersey, in a town that’s racially diverse but tense. It centers on T. J., a high-school sophomore who loves baseball and hanging out with his friends Jonathan, Frankie, and Phil. He's also a struggling JV baseball player who accidentally hits a Black teammate in the eye, earning him the enmity of the other Black players. The clever and funny Jonathan is his best friend, classmate, and teammate, and he's the ringleader of all sorts of shenanigans in school to help alleviate boredom. While they're friends, the racial divide between them comes into play in a number of ways.

The story’s handling of references to sports, urban neighborhoods, high school hijinks, and racism resonate as deeply today. While T.J.'s hero is Mickey Mantle, the aging star of the New York Yankees, Jonathan's hero is Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whom he affectionately refers to as "the Doc." Falco captures the tumult of the era with clear eyes and welcome complexity. When King is assassinated, it changes everything, as Jonathan refuses to talk to any white people, including T.J. Young readers will relate as a confused and hurt T.J. struggles with that rejection, with threats from some teammates, and pressure from Frankie's friends to join in with other white people for "protection." It takes another national tragedy to bring T.J. and Jonathan back together.

Falco's use of humor to establish the camaraderie between T.J. and Jonathan helps ground their later conflict, turning national crises into interpersonal ones. Telling the story through T.J.'s first-person narration also allows the reader to intimately experience historical events while revealing T.J.'s limitations in processing them. Falco navigates the rigors of growing up in a tumultuous time with grace, wit, and empathy.

Takeaway: This resonant YA novel finds teen athletes facing racial divisions in the tumultuous late 1960s.

Great for fans of: Colson Whitehead’s The Nickel Boys, Christopher Paul Curtis’s The Watsons Go to Birmingham.

Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A-
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: A-
Marketing copy: A-

Bruce Solomon, on Amazon

Steven A. Falco published his first novel last year, a coming-of-age novel - "Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run". Steve Falco's novel is set in 1968 in a hauntingly familiar suburban New Jersey town and a high school populated with characters who not only come alive on the page, but whose names and antics seemed seared in my memory. I thought this novel was absolutely terrific! Falco perfectly captured the time, the mood, the racial tensions, the growing pains and joys and the characters who populated our high school years in the late sixties. His chapter, "The Revolt of the Golgi Bodies", not only brought back vivid memories, I may have hurt myself when I fell on the floor laughing. Falco has written a loving tribute to friendship, hero worship, growing up in turbulent times, sharing wisdom and earning respect. "Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run" is a wonderful read -- the best work of fiction I read last year. Buy it. Read it. Enjoy it!

Clarion Review

Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run is a tribute to childhood—and the draw of baseball—in the late 1960's.

 

Frank T. Lyman Jr. PhD, on amazon

This book is Literature

Through the seeing voice of TJ, a baseball intoxicated boy in turbulent 1968 New Jersey, author Steven Falco has crafted a panorama of the socially complex experiences of an ethnically mixed group of teenagers.The hi jinks are original and uproarious, the teenage and family relationships delicate and realistic, the baseball stories evocative of many boyhoods, and the societal turmoil of 1968 accurately woven throughout.

Though the novel may lack the allegorical sweep of The catcher in the Rye, the message hits home and the voice of TJ is akin to that of Holden. If Salinger had started the book, he probably would have read it all. he probably would have read it all.

Each chapter calls the reader to keep reading.There are rewards along the way, but the final three chapters, tenderly brush stroked in teenage realism, provide the redemptive and mirthful outcome that one hopes is embedded in all of our memories of growing up. Frank T. Lyman, Jr. PhD

 

Kirkus Reviews

Kirkus Review

Falco’s (Grandpa Gordy’s Greatest World Series Games, 2002) coming-of-age historical novel blends baseball and the social upheaval of the 1960s. New Jersey teenager T.J. plays shortstop on the high school baseball team and is an avid fan of the New York Yankees, particularly Mickey Mantle. However, as the story begins in early 1968, T.J. is reluctant to admit that his hero’s career is coming to an end. T.J., who’s white, hears of the assassinations of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and U.S. Sen. Robert Kennedy, and his closest friendship with classmate and fellow ballplayer Jonathan, who’s black, is tested as racial tensions escalate in the community. The boys fight for their spots on the field, test their limits on parent-free trips to games in New York, and learn the limits of sociocultural expectations. The metaphorical role of baseball is evident from the opening pages (“Jonathan said that 1968 was a year when everybody did a lot of respect paying, so he might as well do it for Mick’s playing career”), and Falco writes excellent, detailed scenes of the characters observing and playing the game, which will appeal to fans of good sportswriting. He also does a good job of depicting the boys’ day-to-day relationship (“Jonathan was the king of goofing off, and Frankie was the prince of shooting the breeze”). The book is a bit uneven in its treatment of races, though; one section, for instance, intriguingly describes how Jonathan uses a technique that he calls “blacknosing” to deal with white teachers who are uncomfortable with black pupils, but most observations about race are presented from T.J.’s white-centered perspective (“When Jonathan came over that Saturday afternoon, it must have been the first time a black person other than the garbage man ever walked through our neighborhood”). For the most part, however, this is an emotionally satisfying story of friendship and a well-written sports tale.

A solid novel about baseball and growing up in a time of change.

Ronald W. Hull, on Amazon

Coming Of Age In Turbulent Times

In his Mickey Mantle's Last Homerun, Steven A. Falco writes an engaging tale of the coming-of-age of two primary characters: TJ, a white New Jersey boy with a love for baseball, and Jonathan, a black New Jersey neighbor, put together in the same high school by integration. While the races keep to themselves in school, when Jonathan and TJ are on the same JV baseball team, they become close friends.

Jonathan is clearly a very intelligent young man with a lot of experience that he shares with his ballplayer mates and white friends in the school through the use of humor and exaggeration. It is 1969, and a lot of things are happening in the wider world that affect both young men. Martin Luther King is killed, putting a damper on Jonathan's usual jovial interaction, sadness in TJ's heart and possible unrest in school and the neighborhoods of North Jersey. But the love of baseball brings the two back together, and with friends, they venture into Manhattan, on their own, to go to games of their favorite team, the New York Yankees.

The Yankees haven't been doing well in recent years and are no longer the team on the top. The last great star, Mickey Mantle, is in his last year. JT wants to see all of his games, but can only get away and afford to see a few. But then, Bobby Kennedy is shot and is lain to rest at St. Patrick's Cathedral. Jonathan, famous for side trips save this document has in NYC for the education of his buddies, decides to go see Bobby before the game. A new adventure evolves.

Falco writes primarily with dialogue that is easy to follow and appropriate for the time and place. The story moves along quite well and the adventures of the young men at the school, the ballpark, and the big city, all come together in a pleasing and accurate historical way. A great lesson for young people to read today about a turbulent time 50 years ago. I hope this book gets wide readership from young people as well as their highly concerned parents.

Ronald W. Hull is the author of Hanging by a Thread, his autobiography, and 10 other novels and short story collections.

Tom Kranz on Amazon

Nostalgic take on turbulent times through a young baseball fan's eyes. Review by Tom Kranz

Teenagers in a New Jersey high school navigate the racial and political upheaval of 1968 through the nostalgic lens of baseball. Best friends TJ, who is white, and Jonathan, who is black, speak to each other about their differences in a way that is refreshingly honest and which ultimately bonds them through the tense times triggered by the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy. Author Falco is obviously a fan of the minutia of baseball as it is draped over much of the narrative in his descriptions of the characters' exploits on the little league field. This provided a frequent distraction from the more interesting parts of the story as described above, thus four stars vs. five. In the end, the story about lasting friendship is worth the read.

News
05/01/2022
5 Star Rating for Mickey Mantle's Last Home Run

By Shey Saints 

I enjoyed reading this book! And to think, I’m not American, nor a baseball fan! Nevertheless, I recognize the historical references, and the smooth flow of narrative allowed me to visualize the situations in 1968. It’s been a long while since I read a light and fun book! It was so entertaining, and at the same time, it taught me new things which were mainly about baseball, and refreshed me with some historical events, and even the parts of the cell!

This book brought back my younger days. Those times when you do silly things to make a boring biology class enjoyable, or that time when you experience your first non-adult-supervised trip with your friends. But what I love the most about this book is its casual tone. It suits the setting and coming-of-age genre, as the story is told through TJ’s eyes. The distinct personalities between TJ, Jonathan, as well as Phil, and Frankie, were manifested with such great characterization.

Overall, I’m giving this book 5 out of 5 stars. It’s a great story about baseball, friendship, family, different beliefs, and racial conflicts. I highly recommend this to all readers who love coming-of-age stories, regardless if you’re a baseball fan, or not.


 

Formats
Ebook Details
  • 11/2018
  • 978-1-5320-5208-8
  • 218 pages
  • $13.99
Paperback Details
  • 11/2018
  • 978-1-5320-5208-8
  • 218 pages
  • $13.99
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