When James McConnell learns that the cancer his nine-year-old son, Aaron, battled for four years--lymphoblastic leukemia--has returned, he rants, "This wasn't supposed to happen." Aaron's prognosis isn't good, and the news is heartbreaking for the tight-knit family from Michigan, including James's wife and young daughter. They pray for a miracle.
The bond of love between a father and son who share an affinity for baseball infuses Wish, a poignant debut novel by Jake Smith. James, now 34 and a high-school baseball coach, was once a promising player who gave up professional aspirations to live a more conventional life. Aaron is a whiz with facts and statistics, but has never been physically able to play the sport. James would love nothing more than to be able to play a simple game of catch with his ailing boy.
While Aaron is at the cancer research hospital, he's visited by one of his favorite ballplayers, the Detroit Tigers' starting shortstop, and Aaron makes a wish: he wants his dad to play in one major-league baseball game. Even if Aaron's aspiration is possible, it brings up questions of whether or not James really wants to return to that world and leave his family at such a critical time.
Lost dreams and life's what-ifs color this story about the physical and emotional minefield of cancer, for both patient and family. Smith's passion for baseball resonates in this touching, hope-filled drama that also brings the National Marrow Donor Program front and center. --Kathleen Gerard, blogger at Reading Between the Lines