Stars in the Texas Sky - Softcover

Matlock, Stephen J.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1477458786 ISBN 13: 9781477458785

Verlag: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform, 2012

Inhaltsangabe

13-year-old Henry Valentine is the school's star pitcher, is intoxicated by first love of a young girl, and all seems right with his world of 1952 racially separated East Texas.

Then he is confronted by an unlikely antagonist, a colored boy who challenges him in his town, bests him in a pitching duel, and fights him in the vacant lot outside of town. A wary distance becomes an unexpected friendship when they discover a common love for Texas beauty.

He is devastated when a corrupt congressman sacrifices Henry's friend to win re-election, and receives no sympathy or help from his disapproving family, church, and town.

He finds support in the feisty, independent-minded widow with a taste for liquor in her lemonade who helps him fight against the powerful using only the tools of an innocent and powerless boy.

In the end he learns the value of standing for what he believes in face of opposition, and discovers that there is nothing more powerful than a boy--or a man--who knows who he is.

Note: Contains scenes and language appropriate for the time and characters.

This book is a 2012 Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award (ABNA) quarter-finalist.

"Ben and Henry, the touchstones of the story, are charismatic and nuanced individuals" -- Publishers Weekly review, from the ABNA submission.

"The author's and characters' voices were true to the 50s and the time. The voices of the characters will either make or break the story. It was perfect in this case." From the Amazon Breakthrough Novel Award review

"I was captivated by this novel from the start, and was sorry to see it end. This is a compassionate, principled coming-of-age novel championing friendship and morality and pointing to the importance of integrity." -- Pat

"Stars in the Texas Sky is not a light-hearted romp through the idyllic '50s. It is a well-written, down-to-earth book showing the personal growth of the main character through pain, reflection, and self sacrifice...The main characters, Henry & Benjamin, are both well-written and whose moral dilemmas are a product of their upbringing. The author has captured the mentality of growing up in East Texas when it was racially separated & uses the American tradition of baseball to present a well-crafted story. Great book and one that will be put in my classroom library." -- Dana T

"This book was one of the best I have read this year." -- Pedro

"The book is written with vivid intensity and careful deliberation so that the realism sucks you in to the story and you want to step in to help the people along as well as to cry out for what happens." -- Michele P.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Stephen J. Matlock is a full-time content manager and a part-time author and gardener, often overwhelmed by both words and weeds. Along the way to adulthood (a promised destination and not a requirement of the journey) he has tried his hand at many things, from running a restaurant to managing technical documentation. He lives with his wife in the Pacific Northwest, and has seen his children fly away to build their own lives, although they do return regularly for food, advice, and help on finding what that pesky sound in the car engine means other than money. He is a member of the Christian & Missionary Alliance, and like most people in his faith community, he is working out the details of what it means to follow Jesus.

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2012
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 1477458786
• ISBN 13: 9781477458785
• Einband: Taschenbuch
• Anzahl der Seiten: 300
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: KreGa Onlinehandel GmbH; 4950000000000; info@krega-onlinehandel.de; ; Birkenweg 31; Brakel; 33034; Deutschland