"The world played chess while I played checkers." What a great quotation even if we don't know who originally wrote it. And how appropriate it is for this story, the awakening of 18-year-old boys to men.

We read the first-person stories of 18-year-old Vincent in 1979, Vincent as a father of an 18-year-old boy in 2016, and 18-year-old William in Vietnam in 1968. In each case, the 18-year-old boy becomes a man.

18-year-old Vincent, who hopes for a career in writing, keeps a journal of his summer between high school and college. At night and weekends he hangs out with his buddies, keeping late hours and drinking too much. But during the day he works construction with two Vietnam vets.

One of these veterans, William, had hoped to become a writer, too. So he kept a journal while he was in Vietnam.

The older Vincent traded his dream job for a career as a lawyer. He now has a wife and two kids and William's journal.

So this book consists of three stories. William's, in particular, was a rude awakening from boy to man. But all three stories are exceptionally well written, especially for a young adult.