Book Launch of my new book, I Belong in the Game. - a novel for adults and young adults.
Summer, 1974. In a mill town where dreams feel as worn as the red brick buildings, a nine-year-old girl refuses to stay small.
Raylee Montour lives for baseball—the crack of the bat, the dust of the infield, the promise of a game that doesn’t yet want her. Too young. Too different. And most of all, a girl. But when a landmark court ruling cracks open the doors of Little League, Raylee dares to believe she might finally claim her place on the field.
Raised by a devoted father haunted by loss, Raylee grows up straddling worlds: between childhood and fierce independence, between her Mohawk heritage and a town quick to judge, between the memory of a mother she barely knew and a future she’s determined to shape. Her closest ally is Micah, her gentle, music-gifted neighbor, whose bruised home life hides behind quiet loyalty and a miraculous ability to make a piano sing after hearing a song only once.
As Raylee battles bullies, injustice, and the limits others place on her, she discovers that courage comes in many forms—standing up for a friend, daring to love what you love without apology, and finding your voice in a world that prefers your silence. With the help of an unconventional teacher, a steadfast father, and a heart too big to back down, Raylee begins to understand that talent is only part of the fight. The rest is believing you belong.
Set against the changing social landscape of the 1970s, Raylee is a tender, powerful coming-of-age story about friendship, resilience, found family, and the quiet, revolutionary act of letting a child become exactly who she is meant to be.
Book is available at my book launch, Amazon, and my website: www.tamstales.net