THE GOLDEN SUMMER

With a nice regard for character and story, the author reminisces about his ""golden summer"" as a ten-year-old in his upper New York hometown. In an era of prosperous peace, when the ""otto"" was still a marvel and mounds of ice cream cost a dime, Danny and his pals set about to make their mark. It was a summer of money-mad schemes for Danny, who sold a real live ghost to a sceptical audience, who raffled a copy of the new Sherlock Holmes the bookshop owner had lent him and which he had defaced by monstrous precautions against harm, who produced airplanes at a price while outsmarting the Ledbetter Bread Company with their contest, all in collusion with his two best friends. Then there were the bullies of the gang brought to justice...While the author seems a trifle self-conscious about his Danny there is some of the Penrod quality to this boy with his cleverness and his pals which makes enjoyable reading.