About this ebook
Living in South Beach, Staten Island, the “forgotten borough” of New York City, best friends Johnny Romano, Ralphie Molinaro and Giulia Stringer struggle to understand a world that doesn't make a whole lot of sense to them. They're searching for answers to questions that seem impossible to figure out: why are their parents so crazy? How do they live with the hole left in their hearts when someone dies? Why is the gravitational pull of their neighborhood, a beach town next to the Verrazano Bridge that still hasn't shaken off its past, so powerful? What peculiar shapes can love take? And why has a rundown arcade two blocks from the beach become the center of their universe? But the people they meet--from Joey C., the local mob enforcer, to Luke, a transfer student at Tompkins High School, to Dinino, the mysterious owner of the arcade—all have their own secrets to hide. Covering a decade of their lives, from ten to twenty years of age, WELCOME TO THE ARCADE follows Johnny, Ralphie and Giulia as they move through the kaleidoscope of childhood to the insanity of young adulthood, always keeping one burning question in their minds: How do we figure out the greatest mystery of them all—growing up?
About the author
Michael DeConzo has had the exceptionally good fortune to teach in the same schools that he attended as a student: IS 49, Curtis High School, and the College of Staten Island. Before he became an educator, he owned a candy store, a video store, drove a truck for a bar and restaurant supply, and kept uneven tempos in a few rock and roll bands. He has had an original screenplay optioned and a play produced on Staten Island. In 2022, he was awarded a grant from Staten Island Arts. TWO NICKELS, his first novel, was published in 2021. Always the optimist, he still lives on Staten Island, where he enjoys spending time with his wife and children and walking Gatsby, his Labrador rescue.
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