When his grandmother becomes quite ill, young Benjie discovers that the people in his big city neighborhood can be friendly and helpful after all.

When his grandmother becomes quite ill, young Benjie discovers that the people in his big city neighborhood can be friendly and helpful after all.

The Manhood of Benjie Lasser is a coming of age novel full of the sights, sounds and smells of Brooklyn and the Bronx in the 1950’s. Benjie Lasser is a young boy preparing for his Bar Mitzvah, the religious rite symbolizing passage from boyhood into manhood. But, Benjie is also preparing for manhood in other, less tangible ways. Prompted by the desire to spend more time with his wife and son, Benjie’s father, Herman, moves his family from Brooklyn to the Bronx, a block from the fruit and vegetable store where he has been employed for twenty years. This is also a move away from family, however: from Bubbe, Benjie’s grandmother, the mainstay of the family, who is slowly dying of cancer, and from Uncle Max, a man with his own heartbreak, finding his way back to life after the death of his wife. In the course of a few years, Benjie and the family that surrounds him, make a tremendous journey. The reader will enjoy traveling with them in this evocative novel.

From Fredrik Backman, New York Times bestselling author of Beartown, comes a heart-wrenching story of the ways loyalty, friendship, and love carry a small community through its darkest days. After everything that the citizens of Beartown have gone through, they are struck yet another blow when they hear that their beloved local junior hockey team will soon be disbanded. What makes it worse is the obvious satisfaction that all the former Beartown players, who now play for a rival team in Hed, take in that fact. As the tension between the two towns simmers, a surprising newcomer is handpicked to try to save the Beartown club. Soon a new team starts to take shape around Amat, the fastest player you’ll ever see; Benji, the intense lone wolf; and Vidar, a born-to-be-bad troublemaker. But bringing this team together proves to be a challenge as old bonds are broken, new ones are formed, and the enmity with Hed grows more and more heated. As the big game between Beartown and Hed approaches, the not-so-innocent pranks and incidents between the communities pile up. By the time the last game is finally played, a resident of Beartown will be dead, and the people of both towns will be forced to wonder if, after all they’ve been through, the game they love can ever return to something simple and innocent. Us Against You is a declaration of love for all the big and small, bright and dark stories that form and colour our communities. Compelling and heartbreaking, it’s a roller-coaster ride of emotions and a showcase for “Fredrik Backman’s pitch-perfect dialogue and unparalleled understanding of human nature” (Shelf Awareness).