Under the Baseball Moon (review)

High-strung Glory Martinez was the social embarrassment of Andy Ramos' grade-school career, but now she's back in their oceanside California town after an absence of several years, lookin' mighty good, displaying a strong talent for fast-pitch softball, and proving to be as needy as ever. Mostly she requires Andy to play his trumpet while she pitches, "painting" her movements with his jazz-fusion style. He's more than willing to comply, particularly when he discovers Glory is his musical Muse, inspiring him to feats of performance that astound his listeners. The near-mystical symbiosis between the teens blossoms into love, and Glory is primed to impress the college scouts and Andy to launch his group FuChar Skool out of Ocean Beach into the wider world. Soon, though, Andy falls into the hands of shadowy promoter Max Lucero, who promises him a brilliant future and assures him, "All I want is your happiness." Andy takes the bait and all too soon realizes that Lucero means his words quite literally: Andy seems to have done a devil's deal and Lucero is draining his happiness from him, insisting that the price of success is severing his relationship with Glory. There's alluringly dark promise to this plotline, but readers who have gnawed their nails over Deuker's classic On the Devil's Court (BCCB 12/88) will find that the sinister Faustian bargain theme dissipates here amid the humorously eccentric OB population and the hip hop-lite bounce of the dialogue. Still, there's enough softball, skateboarding, music, and summer romance, all spiced with a dash of diablerie, to keep teens tuned in to see if there'll be a future for FuChar.