Synopsis
Who’s your favorite? If the name Darnell Nelson doesn’t top your list of beloved baseball players, you have not yet heard the nearly true account of his dynamic career. Ain’t No Shade in Wrigley Field is a captivating, imaginative tale that bumps roughly along through five memorable years of Chicago history, five haunting seasons of Chicago Cubs baseball, weaving together the lives of three distinctly mismatched fictional families. Raised a few blocks from Wrigley Field, Darnell’s immense skills are enough to change the fortunes of the hopeless Cubs. When he meets seven-year-old Zack Mesa and his uncle, Donnie, it opens new opportunities for the big-hearted All-Star. Meanwhile, across town Tate and Allison Jenkins try to understand the secretive life of their teenage son. Author Rob Schabert intersects these ordinary stories in a poignant and absorbing style, leading to the landmark 1984 season when Darnell’s epic career and generosity culminate in making a difference in everybody’s world. Ain’t No Shade in Wrigley Field is not simply a book about baseball, but a nearly true fable in which America’s pastime paints the vibrant backdrop to entangle and unfold these lives. This book is fiction, but it contains plenty of truth. The individual tales of these families are tragic and triumphant, heartwarming and heroic, stitched together – like the impeccable seams of a baseball – to round out their worlds in terrific and unexpected ways.