Having grown up down the road from this infamous amusement park in New Jersey, I couldn't wait to read PALISADES PARK by Alan Brennert. In Alan's third novel, PALISADES PARK, He writes, in the Author's Notes, "This novel is a love letter to a cherished part of my childhood." It is a love letter, a delightful love story of wondrous times and places, and of days gone by. I could smell the French fries with malt vinegar as I was reading this wonderful story and I was instantly sent back to the late sixties early seventies and summers in New Jersey. I am still craving cotton candy and a hot dog.

This is an interesting story about Eddie Stopka who grew up in the Ironbound section of Newark and went to Palisades Park every summer with his mother and father. The Stopkas are a family who live, dream and suffer. Each one of them brings something important to the story. You will meet and get to know very well, Eddie, Adele, Toni, and Jack Stopka. Throughout the story, the park anchors them and allows them to dream bigger dreams. As decades pass, they live through a Depression, Pearl Harbor, World War II, The Korean War, and the Civil Rights movement. The scenes at Palisades Park when blacks attempt to swim in the all white salt water pool are really powerful. The fires and other disasters the park suffers will have you holding your breath while you furiously flip the pages.

Toni is a strong willed, beautiful, daredevil diver who repeatedly had to make tough life decisions. She and her dad are the most engaging characters for me. For almost a hundred years the park was the place to be seen until it was torn down in 1973. The park is long gone and now all that sits there are high rise condominiums.

Reading about the history of Palisades Park was a learning experience for me even though I lived so close to the park. I really enjoyed reading PALISADES PARK. I thought about what it was like to feel discrimination in those early years and how sad it would have been to feel so hated. Rationing...saving bacon fat to help the war effort and actually just living through that particular war era when Americans worked so hard to help the men on the front.

Alan's story truly is a love letter to a wonderful park that gave so many people the best memories of their lives during a time when our country was struggling with war and depression. Between Alan's memories and his research he hit the history and the area, spot on. Once I started reading, I couldn't stop. PALISADES PARK held my interest from the first page until the very last one.