Dandelion Wine (Ray Bradbury)

I picked this up after hearing that it was a favorite of several astronauts in the US space program, and thought it might be one of his science fiction works. Instead, it is a poetic, sentimental portrait of what it is like for a boy in a typical midwest small town in one splendid summer in 1928. Lots of things happen, including the natural death of a neighbor and some murders, the accusation that a pillar of the community is a witch, and a good friend moving away, so it is not all perfect, but there is also fireworks and apples and new sneakers. Everything is bottled away in shelves of homemade dandelion wine. The writing is lovely, but the philosophy a little too heavy-handed for my taste. Still, it was enjoyable.