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PERFECT FOR READERS OF THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF KAVALIER & CLAY, THE CHOSEN, AND THE ART OF FIELDING

In Whiz Kid, a richly woven novel set in 1950 Philadelphia, Joel Burcat and David S. Burcat, son and father, deliver a poignant and compelling story of ambition, identity, love, and resilience. Ben Green, a young Jewish Navy veteran and aspiring novelist, finds himself at a crossroads as he navigates the tensions between postwar American optimism and the harsh realities of prejudice, family obligations, and his dreams.

After Joel’s dad, David Burcat, died in 1998, his mother gave him the papers from his University of Pennsylvania days in the early 1950s. Among them was a sixteen-page typewritten manuscript titled Match Point. “I read it, loved it, and tucked it away, knowing I’d return to it someday. A decade later, I built Whiz Kid around his story.” Match Point appears, imperfections and all and word-for-word as the first draft of Ben Green’s novel within Whiz Kid. “While writing, I often thought of Unforgettable, the posthumous duet by Nat King Cole and his daughter Natalie. It echoed what I was doing—creating something with my late father, decades after he was gone. Think of it as Kevin Costner’s character playing catch with the ghost of his late father at the end of Field of Dreams.”

Whiz Kid is set against the electrifying backdrop of the 1950 Phillies’ legendary pennant race, The story explores life in the hardscrabble Jewish neighborhood of South Philly called the “Zibbiter”, the genteel suburbs of the Main Line, and the gritty streets of Camden. As Ben confronts moral dilemmas, a complex friendship with his privileged best friend and war buddy Stan, and the allure of a forbidden romance, he must ultimately decide who he is—and what kind of life he truly wants to lead.

Heartfelt, humorous, and historically grounded, Whiz Kid is a vivid portrait of mid-century America, changing attitudes toward Judaism and faith, a celebration of baseball, a reflection on brotherhood, and a deeply human tale about finding purpose, love, and courage in unexpected places. This is a story you won’t soon forget.

Whiz Kid- A Novel is available at book stores, Amazon, Barnes & Noble. It is published by Sunbury Press, Inc.

About the co-Author, David S. Burcat:

David S. Burcat was a Navy corpsman in World War II, a graduate of University of Pennsylvania (English Literature and Dentistry), and a proud son of Camden NJ and his adopted town of Philadelphia. He worked in advertising in the 1950s before returning to Penn to study dentistry. From the 1960s until his retirement, he practiced dentistry in Lansdowne, Pa. He wrote Match Point, the novella within the novel, in about 1950. He was a Renaissance Man and loved working on cars, reading, Philly sports, classical music, playing the piano, and his wife (Joel’s Mom) Jessie. His favorite drink was a Bombay Saphire martini with olives, extra dry, shaken, with the rocks on the side. He died in 1998. Whiz Kid- A Novel is his first published book. Dave was the father of co-author, Joel Burcat.

“Whiz Kid is a heartfelt historical novel about identity and ambition that recreates in vivid detail post-war Philadelphia, particularly post-war Jewish Philadelphia and Camden. In this remarkable homage to his father Joel Burcat has fashioned a beautiful setting into which he has set the sparkling gem, the manuscript of a novel that his father had left him The prose of David S. Burcat whose manuscript is quoted throughout the novel as the work of its protagonist, Ben Green, truly shines. The book leaves one regretting that Burcat père was unable to pursue his true passion, but grateful for this loving, beautiful work by his son.”

—Howard Langer, winner of the 2025 National Jewish Book Award (Book Clubs)