Never Hug a Nun

From falling for a girl with no-good-for-sports stick arms and beautiful penmanship, to jumping freight trains, smoking cigarettes, projectile vomiting, and accidentally robbing the local Ben Franklin, first grade at Mary Queen of Our Hearts parochial school changes everything for Patrick Cantwell. Patrick and his friends hang out at their secret fort near the forbidden train tracks, dream of starting a band while eating ice cream at the Velvet Freeze, and, although they try to be good, keep finding themselves in trouble. By the time he graduates second grade, he's practically a grown-up, complete with a broken heart, a police record and memories of the Beatles at Busch Stadium.

Never Hug a Nun is a sweet, laugh-out-loud look at the innocence of childhood in the leafy Webster Groves suburb of 1960s Saint Louis. Author Kevin Killeen transports readers back to the time of The Lone Ranger and Lost in Space, when children played with Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots and consulted Magic 8 Balls for advice. Killeen's keen sense of humor and comic timing bring the contradictions of childhood to life as Patrick learns about the value of family and that, sometimes, it's even okay to hug a nun.