Let's Go, Gaels [Paperback]

Jim LaBate (Author), Jeff Mosher (Illustrator)

Book Description

Let's Go, Gaels tells the story of one day in the life of a 12-year-old boy.

The story takes place in a Catholic school in upstate New York in 1964. As the week begins, the narrator is thinking about a speech he has to give in English class on Friday, a big basketball game on Saturday, and a trip to the movies on Saturday night.

During the week, however, something happens that changes his life -- and his outlook on life -- forever. The event moves him further away from his innocent boyhood and closer to his eventual maturity as a man.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In this awkward novella, LaBate attempts to recreate a tumultuous week in the life of a 12-year-old boy in 1964. In between worries about giving a speech in class and about what Patty Boyleson wrote about him in a slam book, and his anticipation of the league-championship basketball game, "Jimbo" makes time to do his chores and play with his retarded four-year-old sister, Peggy. But when Peggy suddenly dies in her sleep, Jimbo's world is turned upside-down. LaBate's labored, disjointed narrative reads something like a list of 1964 memorabilia and holds more appeal for adults who remember the era than for children. With so much period detail crammed into it, the story feels hollow and forced despite its serious undertones. The conscious but inconsistent effort to clip "-ing" suffixes also feels contrived ("She kinda looked like she was sleepin', " Jimbo says, viewing Peggy at the wake). By the end, LaBate eases into a more comfortable pace, but many readers will have jumped ship long before. The pencil sketches, half of them horizontal views tipped in sideways, do little to enhance the tale. Ages 12-17.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About the Author

Jim LaBate grew up in Amsterdam, New York, and graduated from Saint Mary's Institute and Bishop Scully High School. He earned a bachelor's degree in English from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and a master's degree in English from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

Jim served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Costa Rica for two years, taught high-school English for ten years (one year at Vincentian Institute in Albany, New York, and nine years at Keveny Memorial Academy in Cohoes, New York), and worked as a writer at Newkirk Products, Inc., in Albany, New York, for ten years. He currently teaches writing courses at Hudson Valley Community College in Troy, New York, in addition to his writing activities.

Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters: Maria and Katrina.

Product Details

• Paperback: 60 pages
• Publisher: Mohawk River (May 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0966210042
• ISBN-13: 978-0966210040
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,742,240 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Since January of 2000, Jim LaBate has worked as a writing specialist in The Writing Center at Hudson Valley Community College (HVCC) in Troy, New York.

Originally from Amsterdam, New York, Jim graduated from Saint Mary's Institute and Bishop Scully High School. He earned his bachelor's degree in English from Siena College in Loudonville, New York, and his master's degree, also in English, from The College of Saint Rose in Albany, New York.

Jim has spent his entire career as either a teacher or a writer. He taught physical education as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Golfito, Costa Rica for two years. He taught high-school English for ten years (one year at Vincentian Institute in Albany, New York, and nine years at Keveny Memorial Acadmey in Cohoes, New York). Then, he worked for ten years as a writer for Newkirk Products in Albany, New York, before moving to HVCC .

In his first two works of fiction -- "Let's Go, Gaels" and "Mickey Mantle Day in Amsterdam" -- Jim tells stories about a 12-year-old boy who grew up in the former "Rug Capital of the World," Amsterdam, New York. While those novels covered, respectively, one week and one day in the early life of the narrator, "Things I Threw in the River" covers a much broader spectrum of the narrator's life, and all the stories in the novel end at the Mohawk River. Jim's fourth novel, however, introduces a new protagonist altogether.

Tom Sullivan is a 21-year-old college student, and he's in love with his creative writing professor - as well he should be. Margaret Cavellari is hot! She looks like a cross between Catherine Zeta-Jones and Penelope Cruz. Okay, so no one is really that hot, but Margaret is close. In addition, she's kind. She's funny. She's interesting. And she's a great teacher.

So when Tom accidentally discovers her computer password, what will he do? Will he read her e-mail? Will he look at her pictures and her word processing files? Will he go into her gradebook? Naturally, Tom Sullivan is curious. But is he also stupid? Of course he is. Read all about Tom's computer adventures in "My Teacher's Password," a contemporary novel published by Mohawk River Press.

Jim lives in Clifton Park, New York, with his wife, Barbara, and their two daughters: Maria and Katrina.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterpiece!, December 22, 1999

By 

Robert N. Going Esq "The Judge" (Amsterdam, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Go, Gaels (Paperback)

In the humble opinion of this former English Major, this 57 page book is a literary masterpiece. The prose is spare. So was Lincoln's, referring here to the real Gettysburg Address, not the version "Gail Wells" giggled through. It is poignant, funny, sweet, engaging, charming. If you fail to recognize any of the characters you will nonetheless find yourself laughing and crying on nearly every page.

But knowing the characters makes it ever so much more fun. Nearly every phrase brought back a hundred related memories of that oh-so-innocent era of SMI and Market Hill in 1964; the paper routes, the class assignments, the movie theaters, the smell of the locker room at the Armory, the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, the intricate plans the guys would make to casually and accidentally bump into a favorite girl, the incredible sentiment attached to a single thread, and the very special memory of an adorable happy little four-year-old girl whose sudden death is at the center of the piece.

Most of all it is a tribute to a wonderful family, made all the more exceptional precisely because the LaBates were not atypical. They were (and are) one of many wonderful families and folks in this town. The book reminded me of so many of them: the Welches, the Borwhats, the Petrucciones, Father Glavin, Doc Cortese and his work among the poor in Central America, the Gormans and Blanchfields and Cushings and Rileys and all those haunts of my youth like Mac and Tom's (and Mac's. And Tom's.) and Fariello's, all of whom and which made Amsterdam such a great place to grow up, and made our decision to raise our family here so easy. ( No offense intended for anyone I left out. Jumbo left me out, too, thank God.)

Finally, and unwittingly, this book is a tribute to the Author, for in its pages Jim LaBate comes through as the sensitive, funny, shy and sweet guy that we always knew. I reveal here for the first time that when the nasty girls in our class were writing their "slam books" rating their classmates, I took a different approach and privately made up a list of all the people of whom I could think of nothing bad to say, putting great stock in the virtue of Nice. Jim LaBate was at the top of the list. In the 34 years that have passed since, no one has come remotely close to knocking him off.

Let's Go, Gaels. Read it. Cherish it. Pass it down to your grandchildren.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A poignant tale of loss and redemption, November 10, 1999

By 

Timothy J. Kelly ([e-mail]) (Mt. Orab, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Let's Go, Gaels (Paperback)

Jim LaBate has written a poignant, fully-realized tale of loss and redemption as seen through the eyes of a 12-year-old boy. LaBate eloquently captures the language of youth and the moment-by-moment realities of his young narrator as his world is shattered by an unexpected tragedy. This is that rare coming-of-age story which does not sacrifice innocence. Rather, it reaffirms the values and beliefs that form the foundation of the innocence that is threatened during the one week that is relived in the pages of this book. This gently-told tale is tender but not sentimental and is guaranteed to touch the hearts of readers of all ages. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wonderful Coming-Of-Age Story..., May 24, 2002

By 

Jeff Foley "www.JeffFoley.com" (Mechanicville, New York United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Let's Go, Gaels (Paperback)

"Let's Go, Gaels" is an impressive debut and a wonderful coming-of-age story. Set in 1964, the main themes -- love, loss, family and friendships -- are relevant no matter what the timeframe. A tragic event changes the 12-year-old narrator's outlook on life, forcing him to grow up quick. I found myself fighting off tears as the world got bigger for him, as it became about more than just school and weekend basketball games. Mr. LaBate does a wonderful job capturing the difficulties and joys of being a teenager, especially a teenager coping with loss. His narrator is fascinated with the opposite sex, secretely wonders if the tragedy that his impacted his family could somehow be his fault, and is mature enough to put what was once was an all-important basketball game in perspective. "Let's Go, Gaels" made me remember being a teenager and dealing with the death of a family member, trying to make sense of it. Anybody's who's ever been young, who's had to grow up, or who is still growing up, will enjoy and identify with "Let's Go, Gaels".