At thirteen years old, Danny Novak faced challenges of self-acceptance, abuse, mortality, and death. It was the best summer of his life and the darkest days he ever lived.
When Danny arrives at Camp Baker in June 1978, he is happy to be away. Away from his mom, his bratty little brother, their crappy house, and his sad life. Danny is the youngest boy hired to work as camp staff, but he’s confident he’ll fit in. He quickly learns that he doesn’t.
Mark Colby, at sixteen, has a bad reputation that follows wherever he goes. He works on the waterfront and is the strongest, meanest boy on staff.
When Danny fails a swim test to work on the waterfront, a senior staff member forces Mark and Danny to spend every afternoon together. Mark wants nothing to do with the boy who has ruined his summer, but he must teach Danny to swim or get sent home. Home is the last place Mark wants to go.
The other boys on staff are afraid of Mark. Danny fears Mark too, but he’s determined to be on the waterfront crew. If Danny passes the test to work on the waterfront, will the boys accept him as one of them?
On the Waterfront is an engaging tale of two boys. Their struggles for acceptance, understanding, friendship, and learning that suffering can lead to a meaningful life. In the end, genuine friendship is honoring requests and promises kept.
Assessment:
Plot/Idea: This is an engaging coming-of-age story set at a summer camp in the late 1970s. McCoy offers a realistic yet nostalgic look at an impactful time in a teenager's life.
Prose: McCoy is a strong writer, able to gain and hold the reader's interest throughout, while effectively capturing the perspective of a child. The author ultimately strikes a fine balance between dialogue, action, and background. The author shows particular strength when it comes to description, which is effortlessly worked into the narrative.
Originality: On the Waterfront uplifts timeless themes of growth, identity, and acceptance through a vibrant setting and original characters that will stay with the reader long after the final page.
Character/Execution: The author does an excellent job with characterization, particularly with the protagonist Danny, delivering a fresh and moving depiction of the anxieties and insecurities of early adolescence.
Date Submitted: April 04, 2023
McCoy writes with passion, illuminating the angst of young males trying to find their footing, and his characters are as believable as they are entertaining. Danny is a classic kid on the cusp of adolescence, gangly and awkward and never quite sure how to fit in—or if he really wants to. Just as in life, the other boys initiate him into young adulthood early on, or at least what they think is adulthood, with sex talk and tales of adolescent bravado. While Danny’s metamorphosis is slow to start, it takes off once he’s thrown in with Mark, a misunderstood “juvenile delinquent” who’s just trying to outrun his past.
Their dynamic is sharply observed: the two tread carefully around each other in the beginning, but soon they discover something deeper lurking under the surface, and they teeter on the edge of that revelation until the book’s jolt of an ending. That conclusion invites picking back through the novel, reading again in a new light, but the book’s heart isn’t just in its surprise. McCoy evokes those muggy summer nights of cricket chirping and self-discovery that will resonate with readers of character-driven literary fiction.
Takeaway: A surprising summer camp tale of unlikely friendships and young adulthood.
Great for fans of: Will Hobbs’s Downriver, Pete Hautman’s OtherWood.
Production grades
Cover: A
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: N/A
Editing: B
Marketing copy: A-
"On the Waterfront is comedic and heartbreaking, sharing the experiences of a young man trying to grow up on his own. The author has a conversational and engaging style, a deeply personal tone, easy pacing, and good character development. On the Waterfront is a sentimental, sometimes funny, poignant, and bittersweet novel, which makes it an entertaining and memorable read. If you are a fan of the coming-of-age genre, this book is for you.”
"A classic coming-of-age story. Danny is an endearing, often funny voice, and his struggles are evocatively drawn. This may be a story about the small moments that shape a life, but McCoy imbues his story with relatable emotion and pathos. Danny is a wholly captivating lead character, and readers will quickly embrace his story as he navigates the rites of passage that yield profound revelations about friendship, power, fear, and what it means to grow up."
