This was a nice coming-of-age story centered around a young boy navigating friendships and finding where he belongs. I personally could not get through this and had to dnf at 40%. It would do much better with a serious round of editing -- while the premise is decent, there were long descriptions about the summer camp that I could care less about.

This is set in 1972. This is a beautiful coming of age story. I connected with the main character and was invested in what he was doing. It is quite a rollercoaster

A coming of age drama with exceptionally writen characters and we face the harsh realities of life. From acceptance, bullying and divorce. From this book I learnt that you can not change others peoples behavior but you can control how you react. A great story with important messages.

On the Waterfront is poignant tale of friendship, growing up and finding who you are. It's fiction but reads as if it's someone's memior.

This is a nice story of a young boy finding his way in navigating friendships / relationships, and how difficult it can be to find acceptance amongst your peer group as an adolescent. I gave up on this at 25%, as I found it didn't hold my attention. It was an interesting story perhaps to the author and his friends and family, but the nuances of summer camp were not interesting enough for me, a complete outsider to the author. Also, the writing was poor and really needed a good editor to step this up a notch.

A poignant coming of age story that is filled with many elements. It is not a story that i will soon forget.
Many thanks to Blaster Tech and to Netgalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

this book was lovely it really showed how two different people can form a friendship and help each other.
i liked mark's character at first you do not like him but then he grows on you and you can see why him and danny form an unlikely friendship.
A great summer read,

Thankyou to Netgalley, the publisher and the author for allowing me to read this ARC.
This is my first title from this author, i really enjoyed and will be reading more from them in the future.
This book is full of friendship, love and hope.
This was full of emotion and well written.
I found this book to be very moving and i recommend to others.
4/5 stars

I really enjoyed this book. It was so well written and a emotional story. Coming of age in the 70s over a summer at camp. Very moving of hope, friendship and loss.

Excellent book. On the Waterfront is the story of Danny as he comes-of-age at a summer camp in the late 70s. This is fiction inspired by the author’s childhood and it’s clear from the start that it was written from author’s heart . While I wasn’t born until the late 80s, I did appreciate the glimpse of life at the time and felt a tinge of nostalgia for the time before smart phones and social media. A little short for my liking but it packed a punch in the story it told. I would have liked to hear the background of all of the camp workers; it would be nice to know how they came to be who they are.
I also enjoyed the author explaining the real-life experiences that inspired him to write this story- it added to the appreciation of the story.

I really enjoyed this book! When Danny find himself the youngest staff member working at a Boy Scouts camp for the summer it is an escape from his miserable home life. With a divorced mother and bratty little brother, he’s happy to get away, but being the youngest isn’t the easiest task for Danny and he finds himself getting picked on just like at school. This book brings back my own memories of going to sleep away camp when I was young and the adventures waiting to be had. Poignant, funny and familiar, I highly recommend this book !

This was a very deeply emotional, well written coming of age story about a teenage boy working at a summer camp in the 70s. A story about friendship and life and the impact one has on the other. It was very moving and I would definitely recommend reading it.

A lovely story with a sad ending. A book about friendship and building relationships. This book is not only dramatic and engrossing, it is also insightful and wise. Read it!

Ah the escape of summer camp! A summer to make memories that last a lifetime. And learning to make friends, get along with those we don't like and behave as we want, To feel so grown up yet still a young teen. The relationship between Mark and Danny is interesting to see it unfold to friendship. The ending is sad. The book is interesting.

Extremely well written coming of age novel. My grandson is the same age as the character in the book and I kept thinking this would be a great book for him to read. Brought back memories of the 60's and 70's when I was growing up and the freedom we had. Enjoyed the story from start to finish. Thank you for a story that I could relive some of my own adventures.

Sometimes it takes a walk through darkness to see yourself in the light. The two boys at the heart of this story are friendless and both have difficult home lives. When they are forced together at summer camp they form an extraordinary friendship which changes them both.
The author has written a charming and poignant novel drawing deeply on personal experiences from summer camps in the 1970s. There are echoes of Swallows And Amazons, Chariots Of Fire and Lord Of The Flies. I loved the characterization and the overwhelming grief when tragedy struck. A story I will never forget.

This was a very well written coming of age story. I really enjoyed reading this. I definitely recommend you read it too.

Growing up and trying to fit in with your pears,through various experiences trying to find yourself.
Interesting and enjoyable read.

The author prefaces this story by saying it is deeply personal and revealing and that was definitely true.

This is set in the summer of '72, when a 13 year old boy was dumped off at a summer camp to work. He'd attended it so it wasn't all new but he'd be working and as the youngest, he knew he'd take some flack.

I had something different in mind going into this. I expected more contemporary fiction than a coming of age story that men would probably better relate to. I think a nonfiction book could have been a better option.

This will be a great book for the right audience as it was well-written and has a lot to say.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review!

On the Waterfront
by Mike McCoy
On the Waterfront felt memoir-like, it did include photos. I am guessing it is non-fiction. This was a coming-of-age novel, where Danny arrives at Camp Baker in June 1972, the youngest camp leader. He took the job for money,as he needed it because he can from a single mom and needed it for school clothes.

Mark Colby, at sixteen, has a bad reputation that follows him wherever he goes. He works on the waterfront and is the strongest, meanest boy on staff. He was Danny's worst nightmare. Everyone had rumors of Mark. But, they were rumors.
He and Danny became friends, and it was a truly heartbreaking friendship.
Beautiful book.