(Reviewed by Don Jung)
Does “forever” mean forever in the world of baseball?
It just might for a young realtor, Ashley Merkle. She attends a baseball game, gets hit in the head, falls off the railing by a foul ball, and dies…
The problem is that she doesn’t realize it and instead enters into a strange world driven by the sport of baseball. She’s put on a bus to find her “soul taker” (a Houston Astros rookie) who will guide her out of purgatory. However she must find her soul in order to go to heaven. To do that, she must confront her dead grandfather, a former Chicago Cubs player.
Forever We Play is a ride that travels back over a century into baseball’s past. Through all of this, Ashley finds more about the value of life through the game of baseball. She meets a lot of diverse people along the way and has to adjust to various situations.
This is a short novel (under one hundred pages) that you can read fairly quickly. It will keep you guessing as to what happens next as she tries to sort out the trials of yesteryear’s baseball history.
If you’re a Chicago Cubs fan, Forever We Play is definitely the book for you. If they’re not your team, but appreciate baseball like me, you’ll probably still enjoy it. Now I will go out on a limb and suggest that even if baseball isn’t your religion, but you’re seeking out an unusual read it may be worthwhile to still pick up this feel-good novella.
