{"product_id":"9780971357891","title":"The Boys Of Summers Run","description":"Farm boys and Little League Baseball create the backdrop for The Boys of Summers Run. This first person account covers the 1992-93 seasons of the Pickett Township Panthers, whose boyhoods on a baseball diamond seem idyllic until the lessons from life and loss are played out in rural Pennsylvania. Claude Kinkade and his mother, Daisy, leave army life behind after the death of Major Blake Kinkade in Kuwait, 1991. They arrive with their hopes teetering at the Kinkade's National Historic Farm, Shadeland, and where Claude traces the footsteps left by his departed father. He senses Blake's shadow following him. Claude's loyalty is spreading its cloak over Shadeland and his father's family. Daisy, however, is being courted by a wealthy Las Vegas hotel and restaurant magnate. Will her marriage derail Claude's future at the Shadeland he's learning to love so deeply? Will he bury his father's dreams in the deserts of Nevada? Will he leave behind the friendships nurtured on the baseball fields of Summers Run? Will he lose the grounding he so yearns to embrace? The fortunes of Shadeland loom large. The Kinkades strive to preserve the farm's future and renown hospitality. Many within the community of Summers Run confront the same issues: surviving year to year, providing opportunities for the next generation, and honoring the values handed down through the decades. The waters flowing into and from Summers Run become symbolic. The term \"runs,\" in rural Pennsylvania, is affixed to those creeks and brooks lacing the countryside together. This is the story of one, Summers Run, where its ancient and enduring waters extend deep into the bedrock of the neighborhood. The Summers and Kinkade families have been united along its banks for generations extending back into the 1790s. Enter Nathean Summers, Claude's second cousin, his Little League coach, and a former motion picture actor and television star of the 1960s. Nathe rocketed to stardom, then faded when typecast as \"too country, too wholesome.\" He returns to his family home, Summers Run Farm, and becomes not only the coach of a Little League team but the stand-in father figure for Claude. Claude, the newly-minted farm boy, finds Nathean so nearly the mirror image of Major Blake Kinkade, he's inspired to matchmake Daisy and Nathe. His efforts seem destined to fail. In contrast, the Pickett Township Panthers enjoy a promising if aborted 1992 season. In 1993, they blossom. They challenge more seasoned teams and veteran coaches en route to championships, while in Nevada, Claude begins playing baseball under the shadow of his mother's shaky marriage. His experience there echoes Nathean's observation: \"It's not always your friends, Claude, who become your best teachers.\" While life and baseball in Las Vegas take a bitter turn, Claude heeds Nathe's advice and adds their memories to his sense of balance. He returns to Summers Run and reunites with his old teammates. \"It's summer,\" he tells us, \"and I feel my stride matching that of my tallest shadow.\" Claude and his friends grow; sometimes within an afternoon. The Boys of Summers Run follows Claude's search for his father. Together with the other fatherless boys of Summers Run--Tim, Aaron, Kevin, and Jeff--they negotiate the terrain fate has defined. Told from a perspective of two decades later, The Boys of Summers Run describes the journey between boyhood and manhood. \"The pure joy of being a boy,\" says Uncle Albert, one of Claude's mentors. \"It doesn't last long.\" Along the back roads of Summers Run, the reader encounters Tim, the deaf orphan who plays center field for the Panthers; P. M Murphy, the reluctant recluse; and Standing Ovation, the black Angus bull and official mascot of the team. It too travels with the Panthers as they reach for the sunbeams shining on their field of dreams. 9780971357891 0971357897 352 BOOK  NOT_MATURE http:\/\/books.google.com\/books\/content?id=F2nkoQEACAAJ\u0026amp;printsec=frontcover\u0026amp;img=1\u0026amp;zoom=5\u0026amp;source=gbs_api en\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eAuthor: \u003c\/b\u003eMr James L Cotton\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/b\u003eAlong Country Roads\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/b\u003eJul 21, 2014\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eNumber of Pages: \u003c\/b\u003e350 pages\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eLanguage: \u003c\/b\u003eEnglish\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eBinding: \u003c\/b\u003ePaperback\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eISBN-10: \u003c\/b\u003e0971357897\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e| \u003cb\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/b\u003e9780971357891\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Along Country Roads","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48802954314033,"sku":"9780971357891","price":17.79,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0798\/8215\/8385\/files\/9780971357891.jpg?v=1712856753","url":"https:\/\/www.recomparo.com\/products\/9780971357891","provider":"ReComparo.com","version":"1.0","type":"link"}