Historical Fiction
Date Published: 07-01-2025
Publisher: Sunbury Press, Inc.
Pressured by his pregnant wife to finish his novel or take a secure job at a prestigious ad agency, Ben must also navigate the era’s class divisions and antisemitism. His best friend’s elite world clashes with his working-class South Philly roots and Jewish identity.
Temptation, ambition, and loyalty collide—especially when Ilene, a captivating classmate, threatens to unravel his carefully balanced life. As the Phillies’ Whiz Kids chase a pennant, Ben’s own reckoning builds to a climax, culminating in a surprising decision that redefines his future.
Co-written with David S. Burcat, Joel Burcat’s late father, Whiz Kid is a deeply American story of resilience, legacy, and the true cost of following one’s heart.
Interview with Joel Burcat
What is your favorite part of the book?
Great question. I love the banter between the characters in the diner. It is witty, fast and inciteful. The characters all really like each other and aren’t afraid to cut at each other just a little bit as good friends might do. It reminds me of the wonderful banter in Suits between Harvey and Mike. You really get a sense of how smart all of them are, especially Ilene. This is a place where Ilene’s biting and tart wit really shines. She shows off how much smarter she is than the guys and how she holds them all in the palm of her hand. After she leaves the diner, they all say, “That’s just Ilene being Ilene.” We are left to ask, “Really?”
Also, I have a chapter that takes place on the Phillies opening day of the 1950 baseball season at Shibe Park in Philadelphia. It’s a great introduction to the two worlds in which Ben is trying to navigate. Again, l love the dialogue and action.
Does your book have a lesson? Moral?
Yes, several. The first is how important it is to be true to yourself. For each person that is different. Many people will think they know what is best for you—your spouse, best friends, relatives. It’s up to each of us to make a decision regarding what we want and what we feel is best.
Other lessons are the importance of being a good friend; being true to your spouse and friends; and staying on the path you have chosen for yourself.
There is a cost to our ambition and we have to weigh that cost against how important the goal is.
Finally, many of us have faced prejudice. We need to persevere in the face of that prejudice and hold true to our values.
So the moral of Whiz Kid is: Success lies not in following the safest path, but in staying true to yourself—even when the world urges you to compromise.
Are your characters based off real people or did they all come entirely from your imagination?
Most of my characters are entirely from my imagination. Some of my characters have the DNA of several real people but none are reproductions of any real person. The character who resembles in some ways a living person is Ben, who has many characteristics of my late father (and co-author).
Of all the characters you have created, which is your favorite and why?
Ilene. She is the antagonist and I love writing antagonists. They have to be the strongest character in the novel and she is that. She is smart, witty, quick, affectionate, charming, beautiful, devious and sultry. I loved writing her.
What character in your book are you least likely to get along with?
Easy. Mr. Ledyard. He’s a pompous ass. A bigot. An antisemite. I’ve met people like him before and didn’t care for any of them. I suspect we’d be arguing about something within two minutes of meeting each other!
What would the main character in your book have to say about you?
I hope he’d say, “You're a good man, a great writer, a wonderful father and husband. I’m proud of you.” (Don’t forget he’s loosely based on my father!)
Do you want each book to stand on its own, or are you trying to build a body of work with connections between each book?
I wrote Whiz Kid to stand on it’s own, and it does. I’m now thinking of writing a series. Whiz Kid is set in 1950. The next book, tentatively entitled, The King of Buttons, would be set in 1964. The last book in the series would be set in 1980. Ben and Debby would be in both books as would the setting in South Philly. The Zibbiter would be gone. That era died out at the end of the 1950s and the loss of all of those people would be part of the story. Also, the Phillies suffered a tragic defeat in 1964, which would underlie the story just as the 1950 Whiz Kids were the underlying motif of Whiz Kid.
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. He wrote Match Point, the novella within the novel, in about 1950. He died in 1998. Whiz Kid- A Novel is his first published book. Dave was the father of co-author, Joel Burcat.
