By Dennis Domrzalski
My new book, Disturbers Row, is now available as a paperback and as an eBook.
The book is part memoir and part fiction. It's about growing up in the City of Chicago in the early-and-mid-1960s. Ah, the fun and the freedom we had! There were no such things as helicopter parents. We roamed our blue-collar neighborhood and city at will, by ourselves, no adults needed, wanted or even interested.
It's also about crazed and abusive Catholic nuns and how five seventh-grade boys--the Disturbers of Room 204 at Our Lady of Grace school--rebelled, challenged authority and refused to conform. Disturbers Row has more than 90 illustrations by artist Dan Florentino. They really great drawings.
Here's the back-cover description:
Chicago, mid-1960s. Five seventh-graders, the Disturbers of Room 204 at Our Lady of Grace Catholic School, are a menace to the nuns and to society. The Disturbers refuse to conform, they challenge the nuns’ abusive authority and question idiotic rules at every turn. Of course they are routinely beaten silly by the nuns for their attitude of defiance.
Outside of school, the guys and their pals roam their blue-collar neighborhood at will, having fun and getting into trouble. Disturbers Row is a trip back to a time that no longer exists, a time when it was perfectly acceptable for nuns to beat up children, a time when kids were free to be kids and when they used their imaginations to dream, have fun, break rules and learn and grow. No adults needed, wanted, or even interested.
Join the Disturbers as they drive Sister Mary Zita and the other nuns insane. Join them as they play guns and war, hockey, baseball; as they fight, shoplift, smoke, and have fun while crisscrossing their neighborhood and city. You'll have a blast.
You can buy Disturbers Row at Amazon and other online retailers.