Title: Out of left field
Description: The summer of 2004 is full of promise for Brandon McGinnis. He has a job, a spot on the varsity swim team, loving parents, and loyal friends. Brandon and his dad, ardent Red Sox fans, wonder: could this be the year the Sox finally win the World Series? Then Brandon's father dies suddenly. His will, signed just before his death, reveals a secret kept for thirty years. As shadows of the Vietnam War bleed into the escalating War in Iraq, Brandon sets out to solve the mystery his father left behind. His journey takes him to Canada's Cape Breton Island, where he uncovers bittersweet truths about the past, and a family facing their own hidden demons. Brandon's courageous search throws him into life's game with its devastating losses, unexpected curve balls, and thrills as wondrous as a home run on an autumn night.
Subjects: Fathers and sons, Juvenile fiction, Fathers, Death, Psychological aspects, Baseball stories, Vietnam War, 1961-1975, Draft resisters, Children's fiction
Places: Cape Breton Island (N.S.), Nova Scotia, Cape Breton Island