STRANGE STANLEY

STRANGE STANLEY is a 35,900 word Middle-Grade book.

Synopsis: STRANGE STANLEY

When Tommie-Mac meets Strange Stanley he is terrified by him. Stanley is a large African-America homeless Vietnam-Veteran; Tommie-Mac is an eleven year-old wealthy white boy. Tommie is ashamed of his first reaction to Stanley and sets off to make friends with him. The problem is, his family would never approve of Stanley—he is everything that they are not!

The story mainly takes place on Boston’s Charles River Parkway and an ally across the street from Tommie’s home. Here, Tommie and Stanley meet after Tommie’s baseball practices and they discuss the Red Sox, girls, friendship and mean coaches. Stanley helps Tommie-Mac deal with difficult situations that occur during baseball season, and he becomes a true friend.

Tommie also finds out that his best friend Libby is being cyber bullied at her new school in Connecticut. Someone has hacked her Face Book account and is writing terrible things about her. Libby stops communicating with Tommie and it makes him nervous. He knows that he has to help her, but dealing with her parents fills Tommie with panic, and he doesn’t want Libby to get mad at him for tattling.

Tommie uses a visualization trick that he has heard about to relax. He visualizes a triple play scenario, play by play. He runs the scenario through his head before every game, before he goes to bed and as soon as he wakes.

As the story goes on, Tommie realize that Stanley is mentally ill , and that some of what Stanley says makes a lot of sense, but some of what he says seems “crazy”; Tommie wonders if he should stop using that word. Stanley distrusts technology and warns Tommie not to use it. Tommie keeps Stanley a secret from his family, but Granddaddy suspects that something is on Tommie’s mind.

Tommie finally gets up the nerve to tell Libby’s father that she is being bullied and they drive down to Connecticut and bring her home. Libby has changed though, she is growing up, but that’s not all. The bullies have scarred her, and now she has to sort out who she is, and how she will handle coming home to her friends.

Tommie brings food to Stanley each time they meet, but he wants to do more for him, to really help him. Mrs. Nikos is a social worker and Tommie turns to her for advice for both Stanley and Libby. She gets Tommie Stanley’s sister’s name, Loretta Benet, and her phone number. Tommie is on the verge of contacting Loretta, but first he buys Stanley a new pair of shoes. His plan is, to give Stanley the new shoes for the summer, because Stanley is wearing disgusting old winter boots, and then, to get in touch with Loretta so they can both help Stanley get off the streets.

That was the plan, but everything goes terribly wrong when Stanley is killed by another homeless man, Crazy Louie, for the new shoes. Tommie is sent into a state of self-loathing and guilt.

Tommie and his grandfather visit Loretta and she gives Tommie Stanley’s old baseball glove. Tommie uses the glove in the championship game. Tommie is a mess by the championship, he has not eaten or slept and he is still plagued with guilt. His team is losing and the season is coming to an end. But Tommie and Stanley have one more thing to do together: the triple play. In a dream like event, Tommie pulls off what on the outside looks like an unassisted triple play, but the reader knows, it was Stanley who played it out with him.