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