The Death of  Dahlgren Place
Released: August, 2009
Category: General Fiction/Historical Fiction
Publisher: iUniverse
ISBN: 978-1-4401-2909-4

When the paperboy swings his shiny Schwinn bicycle onto Dahlgren Place in Brooklyn, New York, and delivers the weekly Bay Ridge Spectator, thirteen-year-old Nathan Wolf has no idea that his life is about to change forever.

It is 1959—a time of optimism and innocence, when Nathan’s days are normally filled with playful adventures in Brooklyn’s playgrounds and streets.
But this day is different. The Spectator delivers the crushing news that the city plans to build a bridge and expressway through the heart of Nathan’s beloved, close-knit neighborhood. Within hours, Bay Ridge is in an uproar, as desperate, uncertain residents undertake a bitter, hard-fought campaign to halt mass eviction and preserve their way of life.

As Bay Ridge undergoes a metamorphosis, readers witness both the trauma and triumph inspired by the building of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge—symbolic of the rise of modern-day New York and the unsettling close to Brooklyn’s fabled postwar ‘Golden Era.’

A moving story of resiliency and hope, based on true events, The Death of Dahlgren Place depicts how an unwelcome end to childhood sparks an exciting journey of self-discovery, as the death of his street unexpectedly gives birth to a young boy’s dream.
 

Matt Holland and Rachel Cook, two of the most highly regarded of ‘New York’s Finest,’ are involved in a fateful shooting that ravages a city, becomes the focus of a landmark civil rights case, and powerfully reshapes the lives of those most closely touched by the incident.

The white officers’ accidental and tragic shooting of an innocent black teen in a poverty-stricken Brooklyn neighborhood triggers a bitter racial confrontation, along with lengthy investigations and political maneuverings that threaten to destroy a community, shatter lives and overwhelm the truth. 

As the riveting drama unfolds, both the officers and the family of the slain teen become immersed in intense inner crises, as they struggle to come to terms with the tragedy and its impact on their lives. In the process, they come to experience first-hand the stereotypes, hatred and fears that can divide us as a people – and the actions and emotions that can ultimately bond and help us heal.
 
An excerpt can be reviewed by visiting www.iuniverse.com