Calico Joe by John Grisham

Title: Calico Joe
Author: John Grisham
Hardcover: 198 pages
Pub Date: April 10, 2012
Publisher: Doubleday
Rating: +++++

Summary from goodreads:

In the summer of 1973 Joe Castle was the boy wonder of baseball, the greatest rookie anyone had ever seen.  The kid from Calico Rock, Arkansas dazzled Cub fans as he hit home run after home run, politely tipping his hat to the crowd as he shattered all rookie records.

Calico Joe quickly became the idol of every baseball fan in America, including Paul Tracey, the young son of a hard-partying and hard-throwing Mets pitcher. On the day that Warren Tracey finally faced Calico Joe, Paul was in the stands, rooting for his idol but also for his Dad. Then Warren threw a fastball that would change their lives forever…

Review:

I have been a John Grisham fan for years. I like his legal thrillers and I love his others books. He had one other book about baseball Playing for Pizza that I thought was a wonderful and fun book, so I knew I had to read this one.

It was amazing. It was a story  not only of my favorite sport, but one of a father and son and of an entire family. It was beautifully written. The book jumped around in time in  way that made the story flow incredibly well. Adult paul would do something, then it would switch to the past and you could see why. If this had been a more traditional structure, the book would not have been so great.

I don’t want to include spoilers, but the end of the book was very touching. Paul and Joe were both such great men that I really wanted the best for them and the worst for Paul’s father.

If you like baseball and stories of family and strength, do yourself a favor and pick up this book. It is a fantastic read. I would also recommend this as a great gift for the holidays!

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