The Young Balboas

Can Love Withstand A Separation Of Forty Years? This Compelling Account Of Innocence Lost Provides A Moving Answer. In A Brief Prologue The Reader Learns That Jim Wade'S Thirty-Year Marriage Has Dissolved Because His Wife Blames Him For Being Emotionally Distant. He Knows That She'S Right; His Heart Belongs To A Girl In A Fairy Tale. When A Mysterious Letter Invites Him To Return To That Magical Environment The Memories Come Flooding Back. The Novel Itself Is A Flashback To The Panama Canal Zone Of The 1950'S A Jungle Paradise For A Twelve-Year-Old Boy But There'S More Than One Serpent Lurking In The Grass. Jimmy'S Best Friend Is Bobbi Bartlett A Tomboy Who'S Never Had Any Romantic Interest In Boys Until Now. In Their Adventures The Buddies Cross Paths With Randy A Sailor With An Abiding Hatred Of Women; Chaplain And Mrs. Martin Christians Concealing Profane Secrets; Lieutenant Douglas A Black Policeman Who Encounters Prejudice At Every Turn; Esperanza A Maid Both Beautiful And Street-Smart; And The Powerful Ávila Family Whose Social Standing Belies Their Estranged Relations. The Interweaving Stories Of These Characters Converge In A Harrowing Climax. Can Jim Wade Find The Girl Who Stopped His Heart So Long Ago? Can Paradise Lost Become Paradise Regained? The Young Balboas Is A Multi-Layered Coming-Of-Age Novel Featuring Nostalgia Humor Eroticism Cultural Taboos Adventure And Suspense In An Exotic Setting.