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Content snapshot
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Violence
Barely any
A killer called the Lonely One creates mild menace; one character's death is treated with wonder rather than horror
Language
None
No profanity
Sexual Content
None
No sexual content
Substance Use
None
No substance use
Emotional Intensity
Barely any
Meditations on mortality, time, and the terror of growing up; handled with beauty rather than darkness
What this book is about
Douglas Spaulding is twelve years old the summer of 1928, and one morning while picking fox grapes he realizes—with sudden, stunning certainty—that he is alive. Bradbury's semi-autobiographical novel is not a story so much as a collection of summer moments: the last trolley ride, a happiness machine, the Lonely One who stalks the town's women, and the first crushing brush with death. Written in language of pure nostalgic incandescence, it is the rare book that can make you feel an entire summer in an afternoon.
Notes for sensitive readers
Reader-flagged moments and themes that may affect your experience.
A serial killer as background menace
Themes of aging and death handled with unusual beauty
Reader Verification
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