The Testing of Charlie Hammelman

About the Book

Only at its most simple level is The Testing of Charlie Hammelman a story about a young man fearful of not graduating from high school because he can’t swim.

More meaningfully, life, like a body of water with its currents and tides, its hidden obstacles, is a test of our capacities to overcome each absurd hurdle life throws across our lives.

Charlie, would rather “stay out of the water,” remain inert on dry land. But he collides with Dina by accident and without either of the two knowing precisely why; she helps him out enough to suggest he’ll at least not fail the test.

About the Author

Jerome Brooks lives in Evanston, Illinois, with his wife, Kathy, and their Tibetan Terrier, Rebecca (Becky) Regalia Tucker-Brooks nee Brok. After a distinguished teaching career, Brooks developed and taught a fiction-writing workshop for the University of Chicago’s Publishing Program.