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5-Jul | LitPick Book Reviews
5-Jul
July 5
5-Jul
Joseph M. McHugh
What does a poor, black high school kid from the projects have in common with a rich high school kid who drives a Porsche? What do those two have in common with a working-class, Irish-American high school teen, full of what he thinks is angst? What brings them together? What nearly tears them apart? And how does a mysterious, successful businesswoman, hated by the community, compel them to come to a new understanding of themselves and the world around them? These are the questions answered in Joseph M. McHugh’s gripping new novel, July 5, set in the world of a major American city. Josh Stanton is on his way to Harvard. Jerome Banneker lives a hard-scrabble life in an inner-city black neighborhood. Rob Flaherty feels trapped in the Irish working-class ghetto. These unlikely three meet, and when they undertake a special project for the despised businesswoman, they discover the secrets of the world, and the secrets of their souls. But first they must endure a trial that threatens to shatter their spirits, and changes their lives forever.

Book Details

Genre: 

  • Fiction
  • Juvenile Fiction

Age Level: 

  • 12 and up
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Jerome Banneker lives in the projects, but doesn't see the reason for the "commmunity pride" of its other black members. Josh Stanton has always been told that his life is great, but doesn't understand the "morality" that everyone tells him he lacks. And Rob Flaherty lives in an impoverished town full of racist Irishmen, but thinks of himself as a rebel. The boys' three communities are in a heated debate over the fate of a nearby shoe factory, and according to the adults around them, the three should avoid each other at all costs.

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