me about bridge characters … and she said it would be very interesting if you had a character who had his foot in both cultures . And that made me think of the white man that might have been my grandfather ’ s friend .
TM : Those relationships make for a very optimistic story . Devil ’ s advocate : Is the story overly optimistic for the time period … or even today ?
SH : Well , I think when you tell a story , especially for the middle grade age group , or for any age group , it ’ s the author ’ s privilege to tell us what the future can look like . And human beings have many possibilities . And so solving these problems , the one you asked me , well , you know , how do we solve this ? I don ’ t know . But human beings have many characteristics , many qualities , and some of us will solve the problem .
TM : That ’ s a wonderful answer , and that is exactly why I said earlier that this is probably the most important book that anybody could read this year . Similarly , sports can be a common denominator for diverse groups , races , men and women , a lot of different groups . In this novel , you make that happen in the story itself , but also in the history of baseball . Is there anything kind of analogous to that today — sports or otherwise — that would actually bring groups together ?
SH : You know , unfortunately , we ’ re not moving forward right now . In fact , it ’ s harder for me to watch baseball this year than it has been in the past because the percentage of African Americans in baseball is declining . It ’ s about 6-to-8 % now . ( It ’ s ) the structure of the game now , how you get to a major league team and the amount of money it costs for kids to be players in high school and college . I have a colleague whose son is in baseball and in one year , he just casually told me , he said , wow , you know , I
must have spent $ 15,000 on his baseball this year . And you know , I ’ d say that was fine . You know , I never look at an individual and try to make global comments . He ’ s just dealing with what the situation is . But I thought , boy , we ’ re going in the absolute wrong direction if it takes that amount of wealth for a kid to be in baseball .
TM : Talking about kids in baseball and aspiring for the major leagues — you must have been working on some stage of the novel when they announced the game at Rickwood Field in June . Did that influence you at all ?
SH : One of the things I talked about during my ( book launch ) at Quail Ridge Books which surprised me , actually , was to see where my notes , historical themes and contemporary times ( intersected ). … So the game in Birmingham is in that vein . … That the contributions of the Negro League players and the existence of the Negro League are being recognized now , I see that game as a recognition of that .
TM : I ’ m glad you got to launch the book at Quail Ridge . That ’ s a wonderful independent bookstore in Raleigh , North Carolina .
SH : I discovered it when I first moved here . My husband taught at NC State , so it was nearby . I used to go in and see the photographs of the authors on the wall and I thought , oh wow , it would be wonderful to be there .
TM : And now you are .
SH : When all of this happened I was just overjoyed . Even though I have another career , what I wanted to be all my life , and my mother will tell you this : I always wanted to be a writer . M
The front entrance is seen at Rickwood Field , June 10 , in Birmingham , Ala . Rickwood Field , known as one of the oldest professional ballparks in the United States and former home of the Birmingham Black Barons of the Negro Leagues , was the site of a special regular season game with the St . Louis Cardinals defeating the San Francisco Giants , 6-5 , on June 20 , 2024 . ( AP Photo / Brynn Anderson )
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