Sorry You Missed It…

by Fred Hosley

I am absolutely certain about three things:

I want to do well in junior high and high school so I can get an appointment to West Point.

I promised I would help a friend, which means I have to fight a bully.

I also promised myself three years ago that I’d never fight again.

In a small beach town in Florida, twelve-year-old Matt Parker enters the mid-1950s full of life and confidence, ready to enjoy the growing freedoms of a teenager as he and his buddies enter junior high, and then trouble appears—a surly ninth-grader named Wayne.

Matt receives a phone call that turns the opening weeks of school into an exploit he never anticipated. The boys set out to protect Billy, who is being threatened by Wayne. Along the way, they encounter an unexpected visitor as they search for buried treasure on an island, try to catch a black snake named Lucille, and go to their first teenage dance party.

Sorry You Missed It… is a coming-of-age story of fun and laughter, sadness and tears—a dangerous adventure spiced with early rock n’ roll and the innocence of a blossoming teenage romance.

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Praise for Sorry You Missed It…

TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE

“Like (Mark) Twain, Hosley manages to incorporate humor and social commentary into the time period and the individuals involved in the storytelling… His writing has a universal theme that illustrates that as much as things change they remain the same.”

—TAMPA BAY MAGAZINE REVIEW

BLUE INK REVIEW

“Fred Hosley’s poignant and memorable coming-of-age tale… Sorry You Missed It… represents fine storytelling. With its blend of small-town Americana charm, spot-on characterization, and life lessons that move beyond the page, its classic stylings should find broad appeal.”

—STARRED REVIEW FROM BLUE INK REVIEW

NEW YORK TIMES

“This engaging novel is written with a masterful hand…A fine book that awakens both our sympathy and our memory.”

— ANDY SOLOMON, NEW YORK TIMES BOOK CRITIC