In the years following Americas victory over Germany and Japan, the heady exhilaration of winning the war begins to fade in post-war Pittsburgh. The spewing filth of the steel mills and the stinging aftermath of the war take their toll on the Donatti family. Better jobs await them in California, and the family plans to head west.
Ten-year-old Marianne isn’t happy about leaving her home, and she likes it even less when she and her family move into her grandmother’s house for six months before heading to California. From the start, Marianne dislikes the new street and the mean kids on it. But at her new school, she finds a kindred spirit with the neighborhood whipping boy, Hurkey Polowski, and the two develop a deep friendship.
Even so, Marianne feels torn between acceptance by the other kids and loyalty to Hurkey. She finds solace with Hurkey’s mother, Sophie, who is struggling with her husband’s change of character since his return from the war. When tragedy strikes, however, Marianne and Sophie will need each other more than ever before.
A window into post-war America, Good-Bye, Pittsburgh is a moving tale of friendship, loyalty, and shattered dreams.
