Even though polio has personally affected my family -- my uncle died from it at the age of 10 -- I know very little about what it felt like to live during that scary time. In his excellent new novel, Roth tells a story that has given me a greater understanding of what people went through. Set in Newark, New Jersey the summer of 1944, Nemesis details a neighborhood polio outbreak through the eyes of 23-year-old Bucky Cantor. Unable to serve in World War II because of bad eyesight, Bucky becomes a playground director and P.E. teacher. The local boys look up to him, and he quickly becomes a hero figure to them. After several of the children in his charge die from polio, Bucky decides to join his girlfriend and take a job at a summer camp in the Poconos. He has difficulty, however, getting past the guilt he feels at abandoning his kids and being unable to serve in the war. Ultimately, the camp does not provide the escape he is looking for. This short book really packs a punch, and the final chapter manages to be both heartbreaking and affirming. I still find myself thinking about Bucky and this book. It is definitely a contender for my favorite book of 2010. ~Torrie