A
Winning Season by
Rochelle Alers is very relevant today. Just a little more
than a month ago, Major League baseball resumed after being
delayed due to the Corona 19 virus. With this story, baseball
fans get some of their favorite sport while also being able
to see how family, friendship, and second chances plays an
important role.
“I am a baseball fanatic! I put the Atlanta Braves in
the story, but I am a New York Mets fan. After the Dodgers
left Brooklyn we became Mets fans. To this day every time
I go to a game they lose. The Braves are actually our rivals.
I go way back to being a Brooklyn Dodger fan. My aunt would
come up during the summer and take us to Ebbets Field. An
interesting story. My other aunt was a school teacher and
invited Jackie Robinson to meet the class. He actually came
and took pictures.”
“Baseball is the backdrop. It helped to form the heroes’
personality as a superstar. He is a hometown hero. Because
he had such popularity and grew up without a dad he became
a role model for other boys who are at risk. He used his celebrity
status and money to make the world a little better. I modeled
him on Keith Hernandez, the first baseman for the Mets in
the 1980s.”
The plot has eighteen-year-old Zoey Allen sacrificing her
dreams to become a surrogate mother to her two step-brothers
after their parents died. Now ten years later, the oldest,
Kyle, has enlisted in the army, and his sixteen-year-old brother,
Harper, is finishing high school. But he is a handful, pushing
the boundaries and getting into trouble.
Their new neighbor is Sutton Reed, a retired Major League
baseball superstar. After Harper attempts to take his car
for a joy ride, he realizes that the teen needs a mentor.
When Zoey confesses how bad things have gotten, Sutton decides
to guide him since he has a soft spot for mentoring troubled
teens. Being in close contact with Zoey he starts to realize
that there is chemistry between the two of them. She has vowed
never to have any romance, while still raising the boys. But
her feelings get the better of her and she realizes that Harper
is grown enough to understand that she also needs a life.
As the attraction and relationship grows between Sutton and
Zoey, Harper also steps up to the plate to become a responsible
young man.
This is a story that will tug on the readers’ heartstrings
with very sympathetic characters. Each one has sacrificed
and is selfless whether it is Zoey foregoing her dreams, Sutton
using his status and time to become a mentor, and Harper who
realizes that he is the protector of his sister.
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