The Distance to Home

April 18, 2016
In a piercing first novel, Bishop introduces a family grappling with devastating loss. Jumping between two consecutive summers in the present day, the story opens as baseball-loving 11-year-old Quinnen Donnelly and her parents are grieving, separately and silently, the death of Quinnen’s popular older sister, Haley, nine months earlier. Withholding the details surrounding the tragedy until late in the story, Bishop focuses on its wrenching effects on Quinnen (“It feels like there’s this new hole inside of me, and no matter what I do, no matter what anybody says, it’ll never be filled”). The talented pitcher quits the baseball team but is buoyed by an unexpected friendship with Hector Padilla, a pitcher from the Dominican Republic who is playing for the minor league team in Quinnen’s Midwestern town. In another emotionally intense plot thread, she struggles to make peace with Haley’s boyfriend, Zack, whom Quinnen blames for creating distance and tension between her and her sister during their last months together. Bishop insightfully examines the tested relationships among grieving family members and friends in a story of resilience, forgiveness, and hope. Ages 8–12. Agent: Katie Grimm, Don Congdon Associates.

April 1, 2016
Baseball, both minor league and Little League, forms the throughline for this exploration of grief. Pitcher Quinnen Donnelly is reluctant to go back to playing baseball because she's still mourning her sister, Haley, who died nine months ago; her family's decision to board a player for the local minor league team, the Bandits, may provide welcome distraction. The book shifts back and forth in time. Some chapters take place the summer before the death, and some are set in the present. Haley is such an appealing character that readers may mourn her, too. But the unusual structure creates an odd effect: the story seems to be counting down, over the length of the book, to Haley's death. This generates suspense, but during the slower passages, readers may wonder, guiltily, how soon it'll happen. They might be more engaged by other characters, like Quinnen's friend Hector, a Bandits player from the Dominican Republic, who's going through a slump. There's also Brandon, the extremely blond, extremely tan, extremely arrogant player who stays with the Donnellys. Their plotlines are less predictable than the somber main story. Bishop is often ambiguous about race, though Hector is described as having "dark brown skin"; the cover illustration reveals Quinnen to be white. The life-and-death themes are thought-provoking, but readers may love the book even more for its many digressions. (baseball glossary) (Fiction. 8-12)

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April 1, 2016

Gr 4-6-A year after the death of her teenage sister, 11-year-old Quinnen is still grieving and adjusting to her new life as her parents' only child. Complicating matters is that at the time of Haley's death, Quinnen, in a fit of jealousy over her sister's boyfriend, does something hurtful. Before Haley's death, Quinnen had been the star pitcher of her Little League team, the Panthers, and an enthusiastic fan of the Tri-City Bandits, the local minor league farm team, but Quinnen can't bring herself to play baseball without her sister cheering from the stands. Quinnen's parents, in an effort to rekindle their daughter's love of baseball, agree to become a host family to one of the Bandits' minor league players, Brandon. It is through her friendship with Brandon and another player, Hector, that Quinnen finds the courage to get back on the diamond. In chapters that alternate between the summer Haley dies and the following summer, Bishop portrays a girl and her family in transition. Ultimately, it is Quinnen's love for the game of baseball that helps her to forgive herself and appreciate the bond she shared with Haley. Though the supporting characters are not nearly as well developed as Quinnen herself, readers will find themselves moved by the protagonist's journey toward "home." VERDICT Recommend this poignant novel to fans of Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park and The Thing About Jellyfish by Ali Benjamin.-Shelley Sommer, Inly School, Scituate, MA

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