Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream [Hardcover]

Jay Feldman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 1, 2006

Roving the lonesome highways in search of fresh baseball talent in 1942, New York Yankees scout Mac "Suitcase" Sefton discovers a once-in-a-lifetime talent in Jerry Yamada. The young left-handed pitcher seems poised to take his place among the pantheon of major league pitching greats. However, he’s being held indefinitely in a Japanese American internment camp, and he’s not even certain that he wants to play professional baseball. Caught behind barbed wire in a camp in Arizona, Jerry, his lovely sister, Annie, and their old-world parents make the best of their confinement while Sefton schemes to find a way to free Yamada and convince him to play for the Yanks.

Sefton’s interest in Yamada and his family changes from professional to personal when he accepts an offer to join the Yamadas for tea in their primitive quarters in a converted army barrack. Sefton’s respect for their strength and the values they hold dear develops and deepens as he begins to see how his own lifestyle contrasts with the Yamadas’. A profound change takes place in him as he discusses freedom and the future with Annie. As a result, the relationships between the scout and the Japanese American family strain and strengthen as they share their cultures and lives.

Amid baseball, racism, and hope, Sefton and the Yamadas rediscover the American dream.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

"This wonderfully fresh and original novel by Jay Feldman is not only a unique addition to baseball fiction, but it ranges far beyond the diamond to raise vital questions of love and life in its sensitive portrayal of cultural conflict. You won’t want to call a time-out once you begin this heart-grabbing story."

—Darryl Brock, author of If I Never Get Back, Havana Heat, and Two in the Field

"My mother used to talk about how, when she was a kid during World War II, her Japanese American neighbors just disappeared one day, and she never realized until 20 years later what had happened to them. In this book, Jay Feldman makes the period come alive. He has written a great story that combines a solid knowledge of baseball with historical accuracy. It’s fiction, but it could just as well be actual history."

—Dusty Baker, manager, Chicago Cubs

"Jay Feldman beautifully engages and transports us with the untold stories of Americans keeping the American pastime alive within a detention camp. Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream captures the essence of culture, community, baseball, and civil liberties in a time of crisis."

—Kerry Yo Nakagawa, author of Through a Diamond: 100 Years of Japanese American Baseball

From the Inside Flap

The summer of 1942. A disenchanted baseball scout. A talented, young left-handed pitcher. World War II. Family honor. The Yankees. A beautiful girl. A Japanese American internment camp.

During a distrustful time in American history, a hard-luck scout discovers a potential pitching great, but can’t sign him to his rightful place in the major leagues because of the pitcher’s Japanese heritage. Mac "Suitcase" Sefton has found his once-in-a-lifetime player, but Jerry Yamada is not free to determine his own future. With his parents and sister, Yamada is trapped behind barbed wire in the Arizona desert.

As Sefton searches for ways to help his new friends, he takes measure of his life and dreams. Through culture clashes and difficult choices, Sefton and the Yamadas find their shared path toward the American dream.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Triumph Books (April 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1572438126
• ISBN-13: 978-1572438125
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,964,241 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Japanese-Americans during WW2, March 3, 2006

By 

Jack Ziebel - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream (Hardcover)

I thought when I ordered this book that I would be treated to a
novel about baseball and I certainly was, but baseball is just the backdrop to its fascinating story. The book vividly brought to light the national disgrace of taking American citizens and their families, removing them from their homes and placing them in internment camps for the duration of WW2. Jay Feldman skill-
fully has woven a baseball scout's discovery of a young Japanese-
American pitcher in one of the camps and his involvement with the pitcher's family and created a story of pathos and humaniity.
Written by Jack Ziebel

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars "Suitcase Sefton" Scores A Home Run!, May 12, 2006

By 

Katherine Fischer (Dubuque, Iowa) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream (Hardcover)

Baseball, a beautiful girl, and a made-it-to-the-Show protagonist in search of meaning--what else is there? This book has it all. A plot which finds us driving the American south of 1942 scouting for star baseball players also offers a fascinating perspective on Japanese American life during the time of internment camps. Through Feldman's often lyrical prose, we face first-hand both racism run amok as well as the depth of human compassion and the intricate struggle for equality. But it is the personal story of loss and discovery that gives the book its greatest energy. Sefton, himself, is endearing, bumbling through what seems to be a first love, and always sincere. As rich are the characterizations of the Yamada family. It was spring, so I read Suitcase Sefton to celebrate the season. But I came away with a great deal more--enough to last through all the seasons of the human heart and wit.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Inside the Camp Home Run, December 3, 2006

By 

P. Cioe (Rock Island, IL) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Suitcase Sefton and the American Dream (Hardcover)

This book shines on many levels. The backdrop for the story is a WWII internment camp for Japanese-Americans. But it's also about baseball, history, love, shame, and redemption. The narrative breathes life into all of these subjects, and the writer shows respect for every corner of the fictional world he's created. It's a page-turner, too. I started reading "Suitcase" yesterday and just hit the seventh inning stretch...Twenty pages to go!