From Powells.com
Pulitzer Prize-winner Chabon's first young-adult novel starts with poor Ethan
Feld stuck in right field, praying the ball doesn't come to him. This is evocative
enough for those of us who remember the agony of being a kid who couldn't hit
or catch. Then a werefox — a small, furry creature with the tail and body
of a
fox and the stature of a monkey — appears in Ethan's bedroom and leads
him on
a rollicking journey to save the magical Summerland from an ancient enemy.
It should come as no surprise that Chabon, who won the nation's highest literary
prize for a novel about the creators of a comic book and who recently edited McSweeney's
Mammoth Treasury of Thrilling Tales, can successfully tap into the breathless
phantasmagoria of childhood fantasies. Summerland is a
sprawling, funny, exciting, and oddly touching adventure that overflows with
Chabon's wit and clever prose. As Neil Gaiman wrote in The
Washington Post, Summerland is a "fine tale, well told and with moments
of real magic, peril, adventure, terror and triumph, not to mention what is,
I am certain, the most delightful sound of a window breaking in all of fiction." Bolton, Powells.com
Synopses & Reviews
For over a century, the people of Clam Island, Washington, have enjoyed barbecues and baseball games and Summerland, on the Western tip of the island, where it never rains. The small beings known as ferishers who ensure this perfect weather, however, are threatened by an ancient enemy, and need a hero a baseball star, in fact to vanquish their foe.
Summerland is the story of Ethan Feld, the worst ball player in the history of the game, recruited by a hundred-year-old scout called Ringfinger Brown, himself a Negro League Legend. Accompanied by his determined friend, Jennifer T. Rideout, and guided by a friendly werefox, Ethan struggles to defeat giants, bat-winged goblins, and one of the toughest ballclubs in the realms of magic, to save all the Summerlands, and ultimately the world.
Review
"Pulitzer Prize winner Chabon hits a high-flying home run, creating a vivid fantasy where baseball is king....Chabon unspools an elaborate yarn in a style that frequently crackles with color and surprise....Devotees of the genre and of America's pastime will find much to cheer here." Publishers Weekly
Synopsis
From the 2001 winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction comes the story of a whole new universe--an American version of Middle-earth--with legendary beings, monsters, and mythical creatures, and where the powers of good and evil are engaged in an elaborate battle. Illustrations.