BOY"S LIFE by Robert McCammon
http://www.amazon.com/Boys-Life-Robert- ... 468&sr=1-2
McCammon is best known for his horror novels, and he is consistently excellent in these, but this story takes things in a different direction.
It tells the story of Cory Mackenson, almost twelve, who lives in the magical small town of Zephyr, Alabama, during the tumultuous late sixties.
And what does he encounter in this town? How about zombie dogs, and magic bicycles, voodoo witches, and retired legendary gunslingers, ghost-cars, and lake-monsters. All of this wrapped in a Hardy-Boys type murder mystery. Oh, and did I mention the escaped carnival dinosaur? It's a beautiful coming-of-age story about a young boy dealing with a changing world.
What I find most poignant is the way McCammon captures the bittersweet melancholies of a youth slowly evaporating in the path of maturity. The many fanciful elements blend so perfectly into the true fabric of life, that you wonder what is real and what is the product of the boy's imagination. (The author claims every word of it is true).
This is must-reading for any boy 10-13 years old, or any man who's ever been one.
Oh, and if you grow hungry for more stories of youth and monsters, there's always my In Darkness It Dwells.
http://www.amazon.com/Darkness-Dwells-J ... 209&sr=1-1