Game seven by paul volponi biography

I actually wrote this novel after seeing a photo of a green 1959 Buick sailing into Key West, Florida. The car/boat contained several Cuban refugees coming to America for their freedom.

GAME SEVEN - Kirkus Reviews

I was so taken with the photo, the excitement and electricity that it generated in me, that I decided to write the backstory of how these Cuban refugees arrived at that moment. I had always been touched by the stories of Cuban baseball players who had defected to the US and left their families behind. So I knew right away that I wanted at least one of them to be a baseball player, and perhaps an aspiring major leaguer.

Only I was looking for a plot twist to that initial thought.

Game Seven by Paul Volponi: 9780142424292 | Brightly Shop

Hence, Game Seven became not about who left Cuba, but who stayed behind. That was Julio Jr., who was 10 years old when his father–Cuba's great pitcher, donned El Fuego for his blazing fastball–defected without his family. I started to wonder what would happen if Julio Jr. became the island's best young shortstop by Game Seven by Paul Volponi - Penguin Books Australia CABYG