Coming-of-Age Novel by '55 Classmate Recalls Iconic White Plains

Adventures in and around Macy's, the RKO, Pix and Strand ("Ranch House") movie theaters, Schrafft's restaurant, Eastview and Post Road Junior Highs, the Hebrew Institute, YMCA, Grand Street public library—these and other memories of a distinguished author's White Plains youth have inspired a coming-of-age novel newly published and available on Amazon.com.
Written by Arthur Plotnik, class of 1955, whose eight previous books include Book-of-the-Month-Club selections and bestselling guides for writers, the novel Aaron Schmink's First Crazy Love traces the journey of the title character as he navigates through his crush on a girl from the "better" side of town, his efforts to be the "coolest" kid in school, and dreaded preparations for an upcoming bar mitzvah. It's a look back at White Plains in the era of greasers, rockers, and hipsters, of broad class differences and both racial segregation and integration.
Plotnik went on to earn a graduate degree studying under Philip Roth at the Iowa Writers Workshop. A library-degree holder as well, he served as an editorial and publishing executive for the American Library Association.
To keep the book affordable, Plotnik says, he made it available as a Kindle e-book on Amazon.com at $5.99. It can be read on Kindle or on other digital devices via a free Kindle app or via Kindle Cloud.