Those of you that know me know that there is simply no way I could resist a book with Fenway Park in the title and a kid in a Red Sox uniform. It’s 2004 and Oscar Egg’s mother has decided she needs to up and move to Baltimore to see if she can make things work with her boyfriend. Of course, she can’t bring Oscar with her, so she leaves him in the care of his father, who left when he was a baby. Over the years, Oscar has seen his father infrequently and he’s not altogether sure he’ll be welcomed. With the Red Sox in the playoffs, losing to the Yankees, Oscar’s pretty sure he’s a loser too. But when he enters his father’s world, he learns that all of this is much bigger than him. His father is essentially trapped in a magical world underneath Fenway Park where there are horned creatures, a Banshee and a Pooka. And the reason the Red Sox haven’t won a world series in 86 years isn’t the famous Curse of the Bambino. It has something to do with Oscar’s own family. He must uncover the truth in order to set his own life to rights and allow his favorite team to win once and for all.
On one hand, I was really super excited and didn’t even mind all the magical stuff which was pretty fun. On the other hand, I wished the 2004 baseball season had been better integrated in the story. The third game of the playoffs the Yankees beat the Red Sox in a terrible 19-6 rout. I really wanted that game to be significant to the story, for there to be some type of evil magic afoot causing such a terrible loss. It felt like the author had this terrific idea and then just didn’t worry too much about the baseball part of the execution, which was a huge error considering how serious Sox fans are. Also, there are some minor details which will bother only the most die-hard Sox fans (the reverse curve sign that was corrected to read Reverse the Curse was on Storrow Drive, not 93, even more serious fans will be annoyed that that’s not the version of the sign that they remember). Oscar’s father is a major Bill Buckner fan, devastated that his one error tarnished an amazing career. (Try not to be too annoyed when Ted Williams plays right field instead of left, he did start his career there.)
But the baseball-fantasy elements largely works. Where Baggott fails entirely, is in social issues. Oscar is adopted and he is unsure his parents meant to adopt a mixed race child. He endures nasty comments from classmates (using the famous Who’s your daddy? chant that fans would jeer at Pedro Martinez) and overhears plenty of remarks to his parents, including that Oscar doesn’t belong to his father, that someone else stuck his father with the bill. While these things are unsettling, they are certainly things that some adopted children face. What bothered me is that Oscar’s mother is a pretty heartless unsympathetic woman. She would answer “thank you, he’s adopted” to any compliments on his looks, whereas his father would just say “thank you.” And then she just up and leaves. Again, while awful, I’m sure it is something that does happen. But the end of the book sees his mother return with full forgiveness, forgiveness that she has done nothing to earn, and includes a possible reunion of Oscar’s father and mother, which is a pretty sick card to play seeing as most divorces do not end with the parents getting back together. I just felt that there was no one actively condemning the people who mistreat Oscar and the underlying message was that these things happen, and that we all feel abandoned and like orphans at times. Sure, maybe we all do feel that way sometimes, but most of us don’t have one of our parents as the main perpetrator. Finally, Baggott uses the N-word in her book. She explains her reasons in her author’s note, but as I’ve said before, I can’t say as I’m persuaded.
Sex, Nudity, Dating – Oscar’s parents are divorced. Oscar believes that his father is still in love with his mother. Oscar’s mother leaves him behind to go pursue a relationship.
Profanity – “stinks,” “heck,” “stupid”, “sucker,” “hell,” “n—r lips”, “n—r” The n-word is printed in it’s entirety in both of those cases. The n-word is used by Babe Ruth, repeating something he was called as a child and called during his pro career. While historically accurate (during the big leagues time at least), This was unnecessary. Baggott does offer her reasons in an author’s note, but I’m afraid I have to respectfully disagree. Some characters curse without us knowing what the words are.
Death, Violence and Gore – Oscar has been punched. A woman tries to curse Oscar’s father “may your horse kick you in the head…may your wife beat you with a pan” In the Cursed world, there are those who want to hurt Oscar. A creature goes after Oscar and Oscar’s father fights back. One of the Aunties recommends flogging Oscar. Scratch draws blood.
Drugs, Alcohol and Smoking – Smoker the organist smokes multiple cigarettes at once.
Frightening or Intense Things – Horned and two headed creatures. Sometimes two headed creatures with horns.
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