Out of Left Field
by Liza Ketchum ’64
Untreed Reads, July 2014
The summer of 2004 is full of promise for Brandon McGinnis. He has a job, a spot on the varsity swim team, loving parents, and loyal friends. Brandon and his dad, ardent Red Sox fans, wonder: Could this be the year the Sox finally win the World Series? Then Brandon’s father dies suddenly. His will, signed just before his death, reveals a secret kept for 30 years. As shadows of the Vietnam War bleed into the escalating war in Iraq, Brandon sets out to solve the mystery his father left behind. His journey takes him to Canada’s Cape Breton Island, where he uncovers the bittersweet truths about the past, and a family facing its own hidden demons. Brandon’s courageous search throws him into life’s game, with its devastating losses, unexpected curve balls, and thrills as wondrous as a home run on an autumn night.
Liza Ketchum is the author of 15 books for young people, including Where the Great Hawk Flies, winner of the 2006 Massachusetts Book Award for Children’s Literature. Liza is on the faculty of the MFA program in Writing for Children and Young Adults at Hamline University. She divides her time between Massachusetts and Vermont.