Peter Z. Mantarakis Reviews

Added November 10, 2004

CityRats

Author: Peter Z. Mantarakis
Publisher: Publish America
Available At: Bookstores Everywhere
Publishing Date: June 2004
Genre: Fiction
Format: Trade Paperback
Price: $19.95
ISBN: 1-4137-2396-9
Author Email/Website: home.socal.rr.com/pzmworks/
Reviewer: Melissa Levine

Stickball, street gangs, mischievous pranks, and a lost eye are major themes through out Peter Z. Mantarakis' novel, CityRats. It is the coming of age story of Nick, a young Greek American growing up in New York's Hell's Kitchen during the '50s and '60s. Young Nick and his friends navigate the mostly Irish and Italian lower middle-class neighborhood fending off gang attacks and hungry black rodents while playing a myriad of street games: punch ball, curb ball, and a tag, hide-and-seek hybrid called Ringalevio. Their pranks range from the tossing of water balloons off apartment roofs to the igniting of a Molotov cocktail.

Although the plot moves slowly after the reader is introduced to Nick during an examination where his doctor decides the boy's left eye (damaged after a group peeping-tom session goes bad) must be removed, Mantarakis does a skillful job of setting the background for the profound changes Nick eventually makes in his life. Nick's experiences in the streets of New York shape him into a savvy, resourceful young man. The author, who also hails from The Big Apple, makes good use of his own background in crafting this well-developed story of one boy's perilous journey to adulthood.

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