Overview

A Season Full of Surprises! Jake's baseball season starts strong. He makes big plays, his team brings the energy, and the excitement grows with every game. He just wishes his brother, Ben, could share it with him. But Ben, who is autistic, shows no interest in baseball at all. At home, Jake navigates Ben's routines with practiced patience. Things only get more complicated when the girl everyone notices suddenly starts noticing him. Will she understand Ben? And what happens if Ben doesn't understand her? As his team fights for a championship and life throws him curveballs, Jake scrambles to make sense of changing relationships both on and off the field.

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Reviews

I've spent a lot of time at ballparks full of big crowds, big moments, and big dreams. Every now and then, a story like Signs At First one comes along that reminds you why you fell in love with baseball in the first place. Jake Harrell is a 12-year-old with a smooth glove, a dangerous bat, and a lot on his mind. He not only wants to help his team win a championship, he's also trying to connect with his younger brother Ben, who has autism. The beauty of this story isn't just in the box scores or big hits-it's in the quiet moments. The brotherhood. The frustration. The growth. The grace. What Lane does so well here is what all great broadcasters aim for: capturing the human element behind the action. Whether it's a tense showdown at first base, a lunchroom debate about the DH, or a quiet moment in a bedroom watching hippos on an iPad, the story lives in its characters. If you love the game of baseball-or remember what it meant to love it as a kid-you'll find something to hold onto in this book. -Joe Davis, Play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Dodgers and the World Series for Fox Sports If one enters the room when another person is watching a baseball game on TV or listening on the radio, a true fan doesn't ask, ""What's the score?"" Au contraire, a proper fan asks, ""What's the sich?"" The situation. This is because baseball is a thinking person's narrative game-each game is a story with many arcs. I read Signs At First, in one sitting. I was enthralled with how he wove the story around games in a season of baseball. First baseman Jake Harrell is in his sixth-grade year, about the time that certain players begin to realistically look to a future of playing the game in college and beyond. Jake is an unusual protagonist in a contemporary young person's novel; he has loving parents, he's a good student, he's well-regarded among his friends and peers, and he is the best player on what may be the best baseball team in his community. But he does suffer from a particular heartache: relating to his autistic brother, Ben. Rixon Lane approaches the difficulties and uncertainties of living with an autistic person with kindness, humor, and love. And there it is; what kept me smiling between the action-packed baseball scenes was goodness. This book is peopled with good and well-intentioned human beings. This is so refreshing, and it brings me gladness. Even the one adversarial character-""antagonist"" is too strong a word-is worthy of mercy. I would happily give this book as a gift to any tween-ager in my life. I would inscribe it, ""Here's to kindness. Now, play ball!"" -Andy Offutt Irwin, is a storyteller, singer/songwriter, humorist, nd a Parents' Choice Award-winning recording artist. His 14th audio collection is Free the Imprisoned Lightning.

Author Information

Rixon Lane grew up in Woodruff, SC, with his younger, autistic brother Colby. After graduating from the University of South Carolina with a degree in journalism, he spent almost a decade directing media relations for athletics at three different universities. Lane currently serves as the training coordinator at Project Hope Foundation and lives in South Carolina with his wife and two children. Samantha P. L. Lane is an artist, librarian, and teacher. Her art explores a range of personal complexities and mediums. In addition to this book, she also served as the illustrator for Kaelynn Partlow's Life on the Bridge. She attended Converse College, where she played soccer and graduated with a dual degree in Early Childhood and Art Education from the Nisbet Honors Program. She enjoys playing soccer and video games with her children. Her work can be found at slaneart.weebly.com.

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