This was the story of Lindsey's quest to see her father in person. She has never met him, but he plays baseball and she watches him on TV all the time. She sneaks out to see him play at Wrigley field without telling her mother, but her mother finds out and contacts her father behind her back. She is heartbroken that she came so close to meeting him, but then finds a note from him on her car that says they will meet soon.
There is a lot about this story that I thought was working well. The descriptions of the baseball game at the beginning are really fantastic. They put you right there on the field with Joel. The hole in the cleat, wiping the sweat off his forehead, just all of it is very real. And the story itself really works for me. It was good and kept me interested throughout. With a few minor details cleared up this could be a great story.
One thing that needs cleared up is that we have to wait too long to meet the narrator. This is confusing for the reader on those first few pages. Another is that it needs to be clear that the baseball scene we're seeing is the old Mississippi State one and not a present day Cubs one. Things like that kept me guessing as I read and distracted me from the real story, which is quite good on its own. One final detail is just where they live. Apparently Lindsey and her mother live in Chicago. But I thought her mother knew Joel back when he played for Mississippi State since he left to play in the majors. How they both ended up in Chicago after they split up needs to be clarified.
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