This is a special book, a nostalgic look backward on a postwar Poland and the mysteries encountered there by schoolboys. Huelle writes brilliantly--his subtle observations on Polish culture are tenderly conveyed through the naive explorations of children. These boys, while coming to an awareness of themselves sexually and intellectually, develop as well a sense of their community, of its religion, politics, and its tragic wartime history. Huelle's style borrows heaviliy from Gunter Grass; he deftly employs magical ambiguities which create a tone of supernatural intrigue.