1956 -- what a year! "Ozzie and Harriet" and Lawrence Welk on TV. The Cold War and the Civil Rights movement in the news. And Elvis everywhere. In the midst of it all, an 11-year-old boy, an avid New York Yankees fan, finds himself uprooted from the security of a close-knit family in South Carolina and moved to Cincinnati. His new best friend proves to be a transplanted Brooklynite, a rabid Dodger fan. Their lives center around baseball -- playing it, talking about it, and collecting baseball cards and autographs. On October 8, a Monday, they skip school to watch the fifth game of the World Series on TV. As amazed as the rest of the country, they see a journeyman pitcher named Don Larsen hurl his way into the record books with the only perfect game ever pitched in the Series.

Here's what readers are saying about Perfect Game, Imperfect Lives:

"Talk about a book with perfect pitch! . . . From race relations to running bases, [Bell] hits a grand slam." Shane Gericke, author of Blown Away and Cut to the Bone

". . . the best summer porch read I could hope for . . . . hits home both to the heart and mind." Jack Ridl, author of Same Ghost and Broken Symmetry

". . . a book that women will buy to give to their husbands but then read themselves." Judy Geary, author of Getorix

Perfect Game, Imperfect Lives will be published in October 2006 by Ingalls Publishing Group/Almont Books. 

To read the first two chapters, click here.

To order an autographed copy, click here.