I didn't care for this one. Not a baseball fan and didn't like the four different voices. Didn't finish it. ( )

While Allison Pittman’s Stealing Home isn’t as stellar as her previous three novels (the Crossroads of Grace series), it is a solid novel. The characters are engaging, and the plot builds steadily. I wasn’t as excited to read this book as I was the previous three simply because Stealing Home is about baseball, but even for someone like me who doesn’t prefer to read about sports, the baseball descriptions are lively and easily paint a picture in the reader’s mind – and they completely relate to the plot.

The sections that indicate a character’s journaling tended to be a bit annoying visually as the selected font wasn’t the easiest to read. The story’s shocking climax came out of left field (pun intended); the buildup toward it could have been managed more effectively without giving away the final act. The very end of the book also seemed somewhat abrupt.

Overall, however, Stealing Home is a good read that furthers Pittman’s reputation as a writer to contend with, and I look forward to her next book. ( )

NCLA Review - It’s 1905. Only one thing stands between Duke, a Chicago Cubs superstar and a ten thousand dollar contract: alcohol. He is whisked away to the one-horse town of Picksville, Missouri to sober up in anonymity where he bides his time flirting with Ellie Jane, who is not interested. Ned, the feed store clerk, has secretly loved Ellie Jane since childhood, but he loves baseball and the Duke almost as much. Then there is Morris, a twelve-year-old boy whose only dream is to break away from Picksville and the poverty that surrounds him in his home life. Four people, each living in haunted isolation, each harboring a secret passion. Providence brings them together; tragedy threatens to tear them apart. A superb cast of strong characters in a small town setting in the early years of the 20th century. Rating: 3 —SGV ( )

It is 1905 and "Duke" Dennison, a superstar for the Chicago Cubs, is trying to "dry out" from his alcoholic lifestyle. He is sent to a small town to stay with sportswriter David Voyant's sister and father, Ellie Jane and Floyd Voyant. You meet many characters in the town, but the ones that stand out in the story are Morris, the 12 year old African American boy, who is discovered by Duke to have real talent, and Ned Clovis, the feed store clerk, who has secretly loved Ellie Jane most of his life. A story about baseball, but so much more! ( )

Great book to see how things were during that time period ( )