Mariel loves Loretta, the nurse who adopted her from the polio hospital where she was once a patient. But she secretly longs for her mother, who exists only as a faint memory. Brick loves his family’s apple orchard, the first real home he and his hard-working parents have had. When the orchard is devastated by fire, he must leave while his parents travel elsewhere to try to earn the money needed to keep the farm viable. Mariel and Brick both love the Dodgers and cheer their team on as it plays a winning season. When their paths unexpectedly cross, the two become friends who decide to work together to solve both their problems: finding Mariel’s lost mother and reuniting Brick’s family on the apple farm. Just like the occasional underdog team that rises to win the pennant, Mariel and Brick manage to answer their questions through their combined efforts and the strength of their friendship. (Ages 8–11)

It’s August 1941, and Brick and Mariel both love the Brooklyn Dodgers. Brick listens to their games on the radio in Windy Hill, in upstate New York, where his family has an apple orchard; Mariel, once a polio patient in the hospital in Windy Hill, lives in Brooklyn near the Dodgers’ home, Ebbets Field. She was adopted by Loretta, a nurse at the hospital, and has never known what happened to her own mother. Someday, somehow, she plans to return to Windy Hill and find out. When a fire destroys their orchard, Brick’s parents must leave the farm to find work. They send him to live in Brooklyn with their friend Loretta, even though Brick knows that their elderly neighbors need his help to pick what’s left of the apples. The only good thing about Brooklyn is seeing the Dodgers play–that, and his friendship with Mariel. Maybe, together, they’ll find a way to return to Windy Hill, save the harvest, and learn the truth about Mariel’s past.