The Road to Delano, John DeSimone
The Road to Delano, John DeSimone
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The Road to Delano

Author: John DeSimone

Narrator: Ramon De Ocampo

Unabridged: 14 hr 5 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 12/10/2019


Synopsis

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond—as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances ten years earlier, he's had to be the sole emotional support of his mother.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don't become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father's shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack's father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can't control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack's girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to do anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to LA, after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother's land. When Jack's efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects.

About John DeSimone

John DeSimone is a published writer, novelist, and teacher. He's been an adjunct professor and holds an MFA in creative writing from Spalding University. His recent coauthored books include Broken Circle: A Memoir of Escaping Afghanistan, and Courage to Say No by Dr. Raana Mahmood, about her struggles against sexual exploitation as a female physician in Karachi. His novel Leonardo's Chair published in 2005.

In 2012, he won a prestigious Norman Mailer Fellowship to complete his historical novel Road to Delano. His novels Leonardo's Chair and No Ordinary Man have received critical recognition.

He works with select clients to write stories of inspiration and determination and with those who have a vital message to bring to the marketplace of ideas in well-written books.


Reviews

Goodreads review by Berit☀️✨ on May 23, 2020

A compelling story about an often forgotten part of history. John Desimone has skillfully captured time and place with his descriptive storytelling. 1968 the California central valley Jack is a high school senior determined to earn a baseball scholarship and make it out of his small town. Things hav......more

Goodreads review by Jennifer ~ TarHeelReader on February 13, 2020

In 1968, Jack Duncan is a high school baseball player. Now a senior, he has big dreams for life and baseball after high school. He is eager to leave his small town behind. Times are also hard for he and his mother financially. During this time, Jack finds out his deceased father was murdered. Now Jac......more

Goodreads review by Mackenzie - PhDiva Books on March 01, 2020

Thought-provoking and powerful—The Road to Delano by John DeSimone touches on issues of justice, destiny, and equality that resonate from the time of the novel through today. A story you won’t soon forget. In the 1930s, Sugar Duncan and his new wife Shirly drive down the road to Delano and purchase l......more

Goodreads review by DJ on September 14, 2020

Favorite Quotes: Coach never yelled. He just stared at that empty space above a boy’s head as if he were wondering what kind of torture would produce one ounce of common sense in the teenager’s brain. It’s one thing to be poor. It’s another thing to be forced into poverty by men who don’t care that we......more

Goodreads review by Mary Jackson on January 29, 2020

Small town politics and characters you can connect with. You are in for a treat with this book. This was a new to me author and I was unsure about this book at first, but it was a very engaging and easy read. Well until the end a little surprise for you towards the end. I gave this book 4 stars. Giv......more