FIRST TIME AROUND

John Belson is lonely. This one word sums up his entire being as he enters the massive junior high school building on his first day of eighth grade. More than anything else, John wants a friend, a buddy with whom to share the joys and sorrows of life. And, like any normal boy his age, he also wants a girlfriend, an innocent beauty who looks like Haley Mills or Natalie Wood. But his desires are just wishes, and nothing short of a miracle can possibly change John’s sad social standing. At least that’s what he thinks. But real-life miracles do happen, even in the suburbs. Set to the backdrop of Chicago in 1963, when JFK is president and no one in America has yet heard of the Beatles, First Time Around is a story for anyone who has experienced the feelings of falling in love for the first time. About the Author: Michael J. Bellito taught English and Speech classes for thirty-two years at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois. His first novel, Ten Again, a story about a young boy growing up in the suburbs of Chicago in the early 1960s, was released in January 2009. He is currently teaching at Harper College, a local community college. Bellito lives with his wife, Joani, in Wheeling, Illinois, and is the proud grandfather of identical twin boys.