Sliding Home

Grant, Joyce. Sliding Home. Part of the Sports Stories series. 2018. 136p. ISBN 978-1-4594-1284-2. Available at FIC GRA on the library shelves.

Miguel breathes and lives baseball. For him, the game is everything. It helps him forget about his family situation. A refugee from El Salvador, Miguel and his family escaped the violences plaguing their country and arrived in Canada. His father remained behind to continue to run his bakery, but now he is threatened by the local gangs and needs to flee to join his family.

When he’s not playing baseball, Miguel is working. He babysits. He walks kids to school. He does odd jobs. All with the goal of helping his mother and saving enough money to purchase a plane ticket for his father. Most of his teammates don’t understand. Sebastian, the team’s catcher, is the worst. A happy and carefree kid, Sebastian does not understand why Miguel can’t come with them to the restaurant after the game, or watch a movie. To Sebastian, baseball is just a fun diversion, and he doesn’t take the game seriously.

When his team, the Blues, earns a spot in a tournament in Ottawa, the whole team is thrilled. Miguel, however, is not. He cannot afford to get his father out, and he sure can’t afford to take this trip. Sebastian, who has taken Miguel’s advice to practice and has been getting better, suddenly becomes acquainted with Miguel’s plight, and proposes a solution to help his family. Why not hold a fundraiser by putting together an exhibition game between the Blues and the best local boys’ team?