Description: Fifty Years ago, in 1947, Jackie Robinson made baseball history when he joined the Brooklyn Dodgers and became the first African-American to play major league ball. In this poignant first novel, Christopher Renino authentically depicts the dramatic events of that landmark summer as experienced by nineteen-year-old Vince Stigiano, the Dodgers' batboy. When Vince starts his job, he comes to a team that is on the verge of disintegration. His boss in the clubhouse is an unpredictable tyrant, the Dodgers' manager receives a suspension at the beginning of the season, and, in addition to getting hate mail from vicious fans, Robinson faces ostracism from racist teammates. Like the ball club he works for, Vince's personal life has never been so unstable. He is anticipating the return of his closest childhood friend, Sam LaVista, who left Brooklyn three years ago to serve as a pilot in World War II. With Sam's homecoming drawing nearer, Vince and Sam's sister, Alma, begin to worry that the war will have changed him. As the summer progresses, the Dodgers endure the season's peaks and valleys while they develop into a more unified team. Vince also grows as he learns about the value of change and love in Renino's beautifully realized novel of baseball and friendship.

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