A Year of Rhymes Author:Bernard Cooper A young boy learns of love, death, and art in this autobiographical first novel set in California in the early 1960s. During one fateful year, Burt Zerkin, the 11-year-old narrator, moves from childhood innocence to the beginnings of adult understanding. Burt discovers the vagaries of romance by observing his older brother Bob's relationships wh... more »ile simultaneously having intimations about his own sexual orientation through an infatuation with a neighborhood boy. Later, the specter of loss appears when Bob is diagnosed with leukemia. The novel's great strength is the way Cooper portrays the depth and honesty of Burt's emotions as he begins to grasp the painful burdens of adulthood.« less