Downeyoshun: A Novel

By A. Young (Apprentice House Press, 2024)

Genre: Fiction – Coming of Age

Pages (Print): 380

Note: We received a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Setting & Stats

This coming–of–age tale is told from the point of view of Sally Osterhoff. Set in Baltimore, Maryland, it opens in summer 1955 and spans 25 years of Sally’s life. The final chapter rings down the curtain on summer 1980. In between we learn that Sally is a math whiz. She plans to be a mathematician, a teacher, and a carpenter. Swim in the 1968 and 1972 Olympics. And find a place to call “home.”

That being said, Toots, the first thing ya oughtta know about Downeyoshun is what Downeyoshun (“down-ee-oh-shun”) means. It’s a Maryland thing. A contraction of “down to the ocean” or “down to Ocean City.” Like, “We’re going downeyoshun this summer.” (The other thing ya oughttta know is that we’re writing reviews on a borrowed computer for the time being. Which we like, can’t stand. But Mom’s is in the shop. So deal with it, okay?)

Key

That’s key. (The word meaning. Not the AWOL computer. Well. Maybe the computer, too. But anyway…) Because Sally lives for summers with her aunt and uncle in Ocean City. Or going “Downeyoshun.”

See how this works?

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