Title/Author:
“Paint the Black” by J.
D. Dudycha
Tags:
Baseball, fiction, young
adult, minor league, faith, Christianity
Publish date:
June 2, 2015
Length:
314 pages
Rating:
4 of 5 stars (very good)
Review:
Jack Burke was an
eighteen-year-old high school pitching phenom who was selected in the first
round of the Major League Baseball draft.
He opted to sign a contract with a big signing bonus and what Jack
encounters along the way are lessons that many young adults face when encountering
difficult situations or even when hopes and dreams don’t work out the way they
were planned.
J.D. Dudycha’s story of
Jack is a very entertaining and compelling read because from the day that Jack
is drafted, he has decisions to make.
However, a combination of immaturity, addiction and poor work ethics
lead to some of those decisions having negative consequences. While reading the book, I had a hard time
connecting with Jack, something that is important to me while reading a
fictional story, no matter what the topic.
He always seemed to make
the wrong choice, even when he knew it would be wrong. There is a teammate of his during his minor
league baseball career who got him in trouble once, so when this same teammate
was egging him on to participate in a prank that eventually cost Jack his
career, I could not figure out why Jack followed this same person for a second
time.
Even when Jack realizes
that chasing women is not his style and he has strong feelings for one particular
woman, I had a hard time understanding why she kept taking his calls or kept
trying to talk to him. While this can and does happen in real life, I still couldn’t
relate to Jack’s constant self-destructive behavior, I had a hard time
understanding why Sarah was still talking to him. By the end of the story when
everything was coming together, it made sense but during the story, it felt a
little far-fetched. Not only the
relationship between Sarah and Jack, but how so many bad things were happening
at such a breakneck pace.
The baseball sections of
the book are very good and any baseball fan will enjoy reading them. Not only for the game action, but also the
lifestyle of young minor league ballplayers who are chasing the dream. It helped
put a proper perspective how why Jack acted like he did and also on how cruel
the system can be on players who don’t make good on their dreams.
There are many aspects
to Jack’s story that are good lessons for young people – how love of family is
one of the strongest bonds that one has, how one’s faith (in Jack’s case,
Christianity) can help guide a young person through trouble, the dangers of
alcohol and drug addiction, and the grief of suffering the loss of a family
member.
Despite the issues I had
with Jack’s character, by the end of the book a reader will walk away feeling
inspired and like he or she learned some valuable lessons. These lessons are
aimed at young adults but some of the points made are good for people of all
ages. As a former baseball coach of
players of Jack’s age, it is clear that Dudycha is drawing on experience in
this story and the result is a good story of a young man coming of age and
realizing what is important to him.
I wish to thank Mr.
Dudycha for providing a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
Pace of the book:
I found this be a very
fast paced book as Jack never seemed to have any calm moments, going from one
crisis to the next. While it certainly
wasn’t easy on him, it seemed to make it easier for the reader to follow along.
Do I recommend?
Yes on several
fronts. It is a great book for young
adults, male or female, athlete or non-athlete, to illustrate how love and
faith can help guide them. It is a good
sports book for a glimpse into the life of players in the lower minor
leagues. Finally, it is a good book to
pick up if a reader just wants to escape for a brief time and see how much
trouble a young man can get into, and how he pulls himself out.
Book Format Read:
E-Book (PDF)
Buying links:
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