This was a different type of memoir to finish off the month of August. It covered one year of the author’s life - his 11th year. Here’s my review of “Death of a Childhood.”
Title/Author: “Death of a Childhood: A Memoir of 1989 and the ‘Why Not’ Baltimore Orioles” by Ryan Basen
Rating: 3 of 5 stars (okay)
Review: It’s not unusual for an 11-year-old boy to have troubles in his life as he is moving up from elementary school to middle school or junior high. Add in a change from public to private school so he will not have the same friends at school, a grandmother and beloved pet with health issues and growing apart from his parents and you have that particular year for the author of this memoir, Ryan Basen.
However, Basen did have one thing going for him in that year of change, In 1989, his favorite team, the Baltimore Orioles, made a surprise run in the American League East division and Basen was faithfully following his team. Even though the Orioles fell short in the final weekend to the Toronto Blue Jays, both Ryan and the baseball world got caught up in the “Why Not?” story of the team after an awful 1988 season.
The book follows the timeline of the 1989 Orioles season and Basen does an admirable job of intertwining his personal life and the fate of the Orioles that year. It did feel strange to be reading dialogue of an 11-year old thoughts with language one expects (mostly - he does curse a few times) and then suddenly to be reading baseball text that is clearly written by an adult. While I enjoyed reading both stories (Basen’s life changes and the Orioles) it just felt a little strange to be reading in different voices, although very appropriate. Overall, a decent book that is an easy read to pass the time on a lazy late summer day.
I wish to thank the author for providing a copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are strictly my own.
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