03/12/2021
During times of mourning, one often searches for a deeper connection to the person who passed. For debut author Newland, baseball was the connection between her and her mother. This personal work takes baseball toward a meaning at a deeper level than the game itself. It is a spiritual journey to all 30 MLB parks during the 2015 season. Newland's mother passed on her love of baseball during Newland's childhood in New Orleans, where they watched the Cubs play on WGN. Both became fans of the Northsiders even though they were from the Deep South. Newland's mother passed in 2012, having never seen all 30 Major League stadiums, as she had wanted to. In this work, Russell recounts fulfilling her mother's desire; she visitedeach ballpark and wrote letters to her mother about the things she learned at each one. Newland recounts are more than 30 lessons in this book, including learning to embrace change and learning when and how to forgive. VERDICT A recommended memoir about the bond between mother and daughter, with a dash of baseball thrown in.—Jacob Sherman, Univ. of Texas at San Antonio
