Waiting for Teddy Williams

Publisher: Houghton Mifflin, 2003; paperback Mariner Books, 2004

Synopsis

In “one of the funniest and most heartfelt baseball stories in recent memory” (Publishers Weekly), Howard Frank Mosher returns to Kingdom Common, Vermont, to spin a touching coming-of-age tale in an America that has almost disappeared. From this remote village, noted for its fervent devotion to the Red Sox, comes Ethan “E.A.” Allen, a young man with a chance to change baseball history. Homeschooled, fatherless, and living on the wrong side of the tracks, E.A. is haunted by a dark mystery in his family’s past until  a drifter named Teddy arrives in his life, determined to teach E.A. everything he knows about baseball. Filled with an engaging array of rambunctious, memorable characters and brimming with faith, Waiting for Teddy Williams is an irresistible read that reminds us that dreams—no matter how far-fetched—sometimes do come true.

Reviews

"One of the funniest and most heartfelt baseball stories in recent memory." - Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Mosher is a master at combining sweet and sour: his baseball story stirs W. P. Kinsella fantasy with Mark Harris realism, while his view of small-town New England leavens the grit of Annie Proulx or Carolyn Chute with just the right amount of Mosher's own down-to-earth sweetness. - Booklist