Calico Joe

This is my first book review.  This is pretty exciting - so I hope you are excited as well.

Calico Joe is about a man named Paul Tracey, who is the son of Warren Tracey (a hypothetically famous baseball player).  I know that you are probably thinking... oh baseball! goodness. of course Abby would pick a baseball book.

Yes I admit, I chose the book because it was a baseball fiction, but on the other hand - it was a great read!

I actually didn't read it.  I bought it on audiobook for my drive to Little Rock last weekend.

The book is about how his father was not only a terrible man and father, but a ruthless baseball player.    He ended up doing something to end his career ( I can't spoil it) and as a father, Warren was upset when his son was infatuated and enamored with Joe Castle from Calico Creek, Arkansas.

The way that John Grisham depicted the drive from West Memphis up to Izard County and to Calico Creek and the way that small town people interact with each other was on point.  It was really cool to read/hear about an Arkansas town and especially about Baseball.

Grisham paints a picture of a distraught boy that has a hero in the sport who happens to not be his dad.  The portrayal of his dilemma and his love for the sport and the people involved in the sport.  I am not a son and I don't have this relationship with my dad, but I can feel for Paul.  I feel for the relationship that he WANTS with his dad and the heroism that he WANTS his dad to exhibit and isn't.

In the final chapters when Paul figures out the dilemma and makes a critical change of course in his life - he is able to see the reason for all of it.  The reason in life and the importance the relationships that he made.

This is a terrible run down of the book and very vague - but it's such a good book!! Go read it!