Dandelion Wine by Ray Bradbury

was born on August 22, 1920, in Waukegan, Illinois. 
Bradbury enjoyed a relatively idyllic childhood in Waukegan, which he later incorporated into several autobiographical novels and short stories. «Dandelion wine» is one of them. 
As a child, he was a huge fan of magicians and a voracious reader of adventure and fantasy fiction 
Bradbury decided to become a writer at about age 12 or 13. He later said that he made the decision in hopes of emulating his heroes, and to "live forever" through his fiction 

symbol of summer in the novel. I may suppose that the title is also metaphoric, because the dandelion wine that Douglas makes with his grandfather, implies packing all of the joys of summer into a single bottle:
«Hold summer in your hand, pour summer in a glass, a tiny glass of course, the smallest tingling sip, for children; change the season in your veins by raising glass to lip and tilting summer in»

of Waukegan, Illinois. In the story, it’s a fictional placed called Green Town. The story is set in in the summer of 1928

summer adventures of two brothers, one of them - Douglas Spaulding - is the protagonist who broods about the meaning of life, its blooming beauty and the nature of death.
“Dandelion Wine is nothing if it is not the boy-hid-in-the-man playing in the fields of the Lord on the green grass of other Augusts in the midst of starting to grow up, grow old, and sense darkness waiting under the trees to seed the blood.»

main character’s feelings. Many of the characters in Dandelion Wine have to surrender to the inevitable and accept the imperfect aspects of their lives that they cannot change. Douglas, for example, realizes that with the knowledge that he is alive also comes the gloomy fact that he also must die.
This depresses him but at the same time, he sees the relish of life and understands that it is the reason he choses to live. The story teaches us to cherish the ecstatic and unexpected pleasures that counterbalance the occasional bitterness of life

and the named places are connected with his childhood. Basically he draws parallels between him and the protagonist

rather simple. Dandelion wine is a series of short stories loosely connected to summer adventures with Douglas, his family and friends
The plot structure of the story is closed, since all the necessary elements: the exposition, the story, the climax and the denouement are presented in it.
The story has a slow-moving plot that emphasizes a philosophical directivity

smells from the tropics and moisture-filled areas which cure him
After learning the hard way the unbeaten nature of death, he learns to relish the life for its fragility 

The highest point of the action creates great emotional tension. Douglas lies in his bed, burning up with a fever. He has hallucinations: neighbours all waving good-bye to him. When there is no hope that the boy will recover, his parents take him outside in a cot to be cooled by a wind

summer of 1928, guaranteeing that they will keep the memories of it in their heart and the bottles of dandelion wine they store in the cellar

of the novel echoes the beginning, with Douglas performing his waking-up act in reverse, pretending to switch the lights off and put everyone else to sleep before finally going to sleep himself, ending a very eventful and memorable summer.
The story is told in the first-person narration. It allows us to see the internal conflict and mental growth of the protagonist.
The protagonists are Douglas Spaulding, Tom Spaulding and Charlier (their friend). The minor characters are the neighbours and friends of the family (Leo Auffmann, Bill Forrester, etc). The story reveals the author’s great knowledge of man’s inner world.
Douglas Spaulding is the most dynamic character, he undergoes changes and understands the sophisticated mechanism of life. He is a dreamer with great talent – to see feelingly. Tom Spaulding is a flat or simple character. He lacks imagination and usually fails to understand Douglas’ deeper thoughts.
The author uses the direct characterization reflecting himself in the main character.
The story is a remarkable insight into human character as Bradbury penetrates into the subtlest windings of the human heart

realized in the language of the story. Bradbury is a very ironic and humorous writer: «The first thing you learn in life is you're a fool. The last thing you learn in life is you're the same fool».
«Dandelion wine» is full of metaphors as well: «…the face of spring, it was the face of summer, it was the warmness of clover breath». Here we also see personification.
Sarcasm is a common too: «When you're seventeen you know everything. When you're twenty-seven if you still know everything you're still seventeen.»
Сomparison: «The world, like a great iris of an even more gigantic eye…»
I think that the language of «Dandelion wine» is bright and unique as despite the plot is quite intricate, the story is read in one breath