Welcome to The Clueless Gent’s Homepage
I am the Clueless Gent because the more I learn in life, the more I realize just how much I don’t know. This may seem like an oxymoron ~ and maybe it is ~ but it’s been a truth and a driving force in my life.
I haven’t quite decided whether it is better to know a lot about a little or a little about a lot. Nevertheless, my pursuit of truth, knowledge and wisdom seems never-ending.
In the realm of knowledge, I thank my mother and my teachers for instilling in me a love of reading. I adore fiction! It is my main mode of transport to other lands, other times, and other people. Real or otherwise, I take whatever I can from stories and characters.
In The Clueless Gent website, I hope to share my love of reading and offer a glimpse into my perceptions of the world around me. If you have the mind to do so, please tag along for the ride!
Beginning in 2021, The Clueless Gent is offering a Texas-Centric, Bookish Podcast. I highly recommend you check it out! The purpose of the podcast is to promote and provide inspiration for the joy of reading and writing – especially in Texas! There will be a writing/reading-related guest on just about every episode. We’re not afraid to ask the dumb questions.
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Just a Hat
JUST A HAT
Publication Date: July 18, 2023
Page Count: 254
SYNOPSIS
Action-packed, humorous, and bittersweet, this 1970s-era coming-of-age novel is more relevant than ever–exploring how a second-generation immigrant kid in a new hometown must navigate bullying, unexpected friendships, and the struggle of keeping both feet firmly planted in two very different cultures.
It’s 1979, and thirteen-year-old Joseph Nissan can’t help but notice that small-town Texas has something in common with Revolution-era Iran: an absence of fellow Jews. And in such a small town it seems obvious that a brown kid like him was bound to make friends with Latinos–which is a plus, since his new buds, the Ybarra twins, have his back. But when the Iran hostage crisis, two neighborhood bullies, and the local reverend’s beautiful daughter put him in all sorts of danger, Joseph must find new ways to cope at home and at school.
As he struggles to trust others and stay true to himself, a fiercely guarded family secret keeps his father at a distance, and even his piano teacher, Miss Eleanor–who is like a grandmother to him–can’t always protect him. But Joseph is not alone, and with a little help from his friends, he finds the courage to confront his fears and discovers he can inspire others to find their courage, too.
Just a Hat is an authentically one-of-a-kind YA debut that fuses the humor of Firoozeh Dumas’s Funny in Farsi with the poignancy of Daniel Nayeri’s Everything Sad Is Untrue.
