Game Seven

Game Seven by Paul Volponi, 243 pages

Although this book was a little preachy I still thought it was a good story.  Julio's father defected from Cuba to the United States a few years ago.  Julio Senior, El Fuego, was one of Cuba's greatest pitchers, and is pitching for Miami now.  Life has been hard for Julio's family since his father left.  The whole family is under suspicion of being traitors.  His mother has to work hard just to make ends meet.  Julio had to leave school and get a job to help out and is afraid that he'll never have the chance to play ball on the Cuban team because of his father.  Then a chance comes for Julio to escape Cuba and flee to the United States.  It will mean leaving his mother and sister behind and the trip will be dangerous.  Also, Julio isn't sure exactly how he feels about his father after all of these years.  This would probably have a lot of appeal to teens, especially boys who like sports.