The Sons of Summer by Michael Dault (paperback)

Description

In the rural mining town of Rupland, baseball is a religion that keeps the town alive. Here, the best little league baseball in the country is played, and boys dream of donning the orange and black colors of their idols.

Jack— the leader, Johnny— the rebel, and Joe— the student, are sons of a tormented Vietnam veteran who pushes them towards a better future. Together they battle through Rupland’s and their own hardships of death, decline, and war that tears them apart. The Dalton boys follow different paths in life that change the course of their family, friends, and town forever. From the little league field to Iraq, alcoholism, drugs, and death the boys and the small American town seem to travel the same hard road. But there is always baseball.

This is a story of America, of fathers and sons, of innocence lost, of joy and desperation.