Stealing Home. (HIP-SR.). Shawn Durkin. Illustrated by Catherine Doherty. Toronto, ON: HIP Publishing, 2007. 94 pp., pbk., $10.95. ISBN 978-1-897039-24-3. Grades 9-12 / Ages 14-17. Review by Christina Pike. **** /4
	Stealing Home: Teachers’s Guide. Lori Jamison. Toronto, ON: HIP Publishing, 2007. 20 pp., pbk., $5.95. Grades 9-12 / Ages 14-17. Review by Christina Pike. **** /4

excerpt:

“Hey, Josh,” he called out.  “Over here.”

“Hey,” Josh called out to Ryan.

Ryan’s whole group turned toward Josh as he walked over. Josh felt like he was being checked over. Was he just a country hick, or would he fit in? Ryan smiled and turned to the group. “Guys, this is Josh. Josh, this is Cam, Andrew and Tim. And you know Steve and Rohan from the team.”

Josh nodded and tried to get the names straight in his head. Last week he knew no one in the city.  Today he knew six guys. It was a start.

Stealing Home, by Shawn Durkin, is a story about Josh, a high school student and his move with his mother from Hinton to the city part way through the school year. Josh is trying desperately to fit in, but he feels like a “hick.” His clothes are all wrong, and he doesn’t have money like the other kids. Josh is a typical teenager worried about making friends in a new school and in a new city. His country ways are different, and, no matter how hard he tries, he stands out. Baseball seems to be his only way to fit in.

     Durkin’s novel is more than a simple story about fitting in. It is about finding one’s identity and doing the right thing no matter what the cost. In this novel, the main character, Josh, has to grow up quickly. His father left him and his mother when Josh was a boy, and mother and son have had to rely on each other for survival. Josh is trying to cope with all the feelings this abandonment has given him as well as his own struggles to figure out how he fits into the new life in the city. Josh also faces internal conflict trying to decide what is the right thing to do. This is a story that many readers can relate to on many different levels. The characters are also believable and realistic.

     The Stealing Home: Teacher’s Guide is an added bonus.

     A must read for all. 

Highly Recommended.

Christina Pike is principal of St. Francis School in Harbour Grace, NL.

To comment on this title or this review, send mail to cm@umanitoba.ca.

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Published by The Manitoba Library Association ISSN 1201-9364

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