Brave in Season

<p>Set in 1950 in the rural Midwest and inspired by real events this gripping novel explores what happens when an African American railroad repair crew is dropped into a tiny tight-knit farm community. Will frictions build to an all-too familiar American tragedy or can tensions be overcome in that uniquely American way with balls and bats and a field of green?</p><p><br></p><p>Seventeen-year-old Carlin Littman has big dreams much bigger than will fit into sleepy Julian Nebraska population 172. She has set her sights on college Chicago and beyond. The arrival of the rail workers known as gandy dancers is an interesting distraction in the bored summer days where her only job is looking after her little brother Timmy. When she befriends Sam Washington the awkward bookish gandy a year younger than she neither of them have any idea what they have set in motion.</p><p><br></p><p>Many decades later Tim returns to Nebraska attempting to recover the lost history through interviews with the few surviving seniors who might remember. These encounters provide the basis for a story that lies somewhere between myth and memory. A story where the mutual respect between the oldest gandy Jerome and the store owner Dave offers townsfolk an alternative to stereotype and prejudice. A story where the new rail line is being built over the route of the underground railroad challenging a new generation of farm families to live up to that heritage. A story where an unlikely pick-up game propels players on both sides to epic performances.</p><p><br></p><p>Race railroads and baseball are iconic themes that come together in this moving story of the American heartland.</p>