Jim Provenzano's sixth novel, "Now I'm Here," is set in the small town of Serene, Ohio, in the 1970s and 80s. Two boys from different families Joshua, with his stable middle-class home in town, and David, raised by his alcoholic and abusive father on their isolated farm - discover, then lose, then find each other again. Thirty years later, as the town's history is slowly erased by fading memories and encroaching suburbia, their childhood friend, Eric Gottlund, tells the tale of their quiet heroism with poignancy and a sharp eye for detail. Combining literature and music, the author blends historic and contemporary topics.

In "Now I'm Here," two Southern Ohio teenage boys, Joshua Evans (a piano prodigy) and David Koenig (a pumpkin farmers son) attend a Queen concert in 1978 on their first date. Their passionate affair grows into a life together full of farming and concerts in their barn. Joshua's brief fame as a musician includes an invitation to perform in a Los Angeles talent show. He also gains a bit of notoriety by performing unusual solo versions of pop songs at West Hollywood New Wave nightclubs of the early 1980s.

Fighting religious intolerance, rehabilitation therapy, the lure of fame, and the heartbreak of AIDS, the two boys grow into men before our eyes. Through their love of each other and of rock & roll, the English rock band Queen in particular, Joshua and David breathe life back into their home town, if only for a while.