David Huffman
Life is not easy when you are twelve and mad. Alex Thompson feels abandoned by his dad when his father leaves him and goes to war in Iraq. Fearing that her son’s anger will turn into hatred, his mother asks her father, Dr. Jason Jamison, for help. On a camping trip, Alex asks his grandfather if he ever felt abandoned. In response, Jason tells about a time over fifty years earlier when he was fourteen and innocent.In 1954, life was simple and carefree. All Jason and his best friend, George Alexander, wanted to do was to play baseball when their tranquility was shattered. Polio paralyzed George, and fear griped Smithville, Kansas, because there was no polio vaccine at the time, and anybody could be the next victim. Jason was upset and felt abandoned when his father, the town physician, sent him to stay with his grandparents on Ash Creek Farm. Moreover, George’s parents abandoned their paralyzed son by sending him to a nursing home and nobody seemed to care. How could Jason help George when he was isolated on the farm and miles away from his friend? Will Jason’s story help Alex understand and accept his own father’s obligation?
