The Is Next Year — Philip Goldberg

“There are only a handful of excellent baseball novels, and This is Next Year is right up there.” �" W.P. Kinsella (Shoeless Joe)



It's 1955, and the long-suffering Brooklyn Dodgers are marching to another World Series with their nemesis, the mighty Yankees. Believing that his parent's rocky marriage and the fate of his family hinge on the outcome, eleven-year-old Roger Stone tries to end the Bums' curse by himself. All would be lost if the Boys of Summer were to once again break the hearts of their adoring fans. Set in the streets of the now-mythological Brooklyn of the “Happy Days” era, this exuberant tale of love, family, baseball, and redemption reaches a tense climax during the seventh game of the Series, as Roger enlists the aid of his hero, Jackie Robinson. “Goldberg writes lovingly and evocatively of egg creams, stoopball [and] nascent rock ‘n roll,” said Publishers Weekly, “and captures the joys and terrors of childhood in the period with wit, charm and intelligence.”