Know It by Heart
by Karl Luntta
Summary
When a racially mixed family moves into an all-white neighborhood in East Hartford, Connecticut, in 1961, lives are altered forever. Karl Luntta’s Know It by Heart follows the adventures of young Dub Teed, his sister -Susan and neighbor Doug Hammer, who befriend newly arrived Ricky Dubois, the daughter of an African-American woman and her white husband. When burning crosses appear at night-and worse-the young adolescents set out to find justice and discover themselves in the process.
Despite the book’s serious anti-racist theme, Know It by Heart is filled with humor reminiscent of Mark Twain. In this suspenseful novel, Karl Luntta brilliantly captures the world of the young adolescent in his characters and dialogue and in the innate comedy and awkwardness of that age. This is a book that will appeal to parents and teenagers alike.
Excerpt
That whole business about God being in charge of the universe and everything in it? I don’t buy it. I mean, I’m sure God in His infinite wisdom believes He’s in control of His eternal plan, and that’s fine with me because, after all, He is God and having faith in things is definitely up His alley. But all the same, He ought to admit it’s at least remotely possible that He’s made some world-class mistakes. Just think about the Nazis and Jews and so on. Are we supposed to believe God let all that happen because He’s omniscient and had this inside information that it was actually a good thing for millions of babies and mothers to be herded into gas chambers? What happened to the omnipotent part, the part where a half-concerned God would’ve cut off Hitler at the jackboots before the war ever started? And don’t even talk about pestilence and poverty and slavery and disease, or the fact that God took paradise away from us just because a guy ate an apple. I think we need a little perspective here. God may have a winning message, and He’s probably terrific at keeping heaven clean and safe and heavenly, but here on earth He’s let a lot of good come to a bad end. For no reason that I can see. Either that, or justice just isn’t His strong point.
My name is Dub Teed, and if you’re expecting some irritating story about how I got the nickname, you can go ahead and relax because, for the life of me, I don’t know. Nor, and this is incredible, does anyone in my family. Susan swears it came about because it was a sound I used to make when she and my mother gave me baths as a baby, apparently the only imitation I could make of their “rub-a-dub-dub” noises while I sat like a naked idiot in the tub. But the thought of Susan helping to bathe me, baby or no baby, is not a thought I’m particularly fond of, so the less said about that the better. And my mother says she remembers none of that business anyway, so I’ve got to think that Susan made up the whole thing just to make me cringe every once in a while, which she probably thinks is her privilege as an older sister. So be it, it probably is. Pop seems to think the name came about when he taught me how to spell my real name, which is Walter, which is his name as well. He figures that in the early days I couldn’t get by the first letter, which I apparently pronounced “Dub-oo” or whatever, and there you have it. Anyway, since we share the same name otherwise, we figure the nickname has some practical value around the house.
Reviews
“Storytelling that makes abundant use of unforgettable characters, a compelling sweep of events, colorful dialogue, and a mind set that captures the essence of an era. Karl Luntta is a first-rate talent.” —Lary Bloom, author, The Writer Within
Author's Biography
Karl Luntta worked for over a dozen years with the U.S. Peace Corps in Africa, the South Pacific, and the Caribbean. A former newspaper and magazine columnist, he is the author of several travel books. His short stories have appeared in Baltimore Review, International Quarterly, North Atlantic Review, Toronto Review and others.