Isabell'e Inning by Donna Winters

Isabelle’s Inning
By: Donna Winters

I loved this book by Donna Winters! She hits a home run with this story. Isabelle Dorlon’s mother has a rooming house where Jack Weatherby stays. He wants to play on the Erskine College baseball team. Isabelle’s father died and she and her brother, Tracy, are keeping his broom-making business going. Isabelle’s Inning is about faith, hope, love, and trust. Once you meet the characters, you are drawn in and don’t want to stop reading until you finish the book!

In one part of the book, there is a debate whether the automobile will take off, or if the horse and carriage will always be the mode of transportation. Erskine and Robinson debaters are squaring off to see which college will win the debate. Knowing how this turns out makes this debate even better. Two quotes stick with me after reading the debate. One is, “The Medical Journal predicts: ‘If the machine ever attains the unlikely speed of eighty miles per hour, it will have to drive itself, for the human brain will be incapable of controlling it.’” And, “The horseless carriage is an impractical machine suitable only for the privileged minority interested in pleasure driving, and then only on flat roadways during warm months of the year where no horses or cows can be found.” I found the debate to be factual of what people thought about the car when it first came out. Some of the comments, like the one about no horses or cows around, were funny.

Isabelle has an issue that she doesn’t want others to know about. Jack has something he is hiding as well. Read the book to see how Isabelle’s honesty gives Jack the courage to face his fears as well. Isabelle and Jack learn about love and trust. See whether Jack gets to follow his dream of playing on the Erskine 9. The characters are well-developed and the plot draws you in. Whether you like baseball or not, Isabelle’s Inning is a keeper!