Line Drive to Love

Rory is 17 and plays competitive baseball. She is determined to go as far as she can with the sport and is very focused on moving up to play once again on the provincial baseball team. The last thing she expects is to meet Shanti during the summer and develop a romantic relationship. She can’t have both, she thinks, so will she choose baseball or love?

Rory is ambitious and driven when it comes to her sport and her place on her team. This can make her hard to get along with at times, but readers will understand her motivation. She wants a scholarship to make her parents proud of her and is particularly passionate because her dad suffers from ALS and so he won’t be around as long as she’d like. Rory must do her best to
prove herself. But she is torn when she meets Shanti and her first romantic relationship develops. Rory has had a girlfriend before, but Shanti is special, and the feelings between the two are strong. Rory is faced with a dilemma, and readers cheer for her as she attempts to tackle it head on.

Shanti is an excellent foil for the main character. She is just as driven as Rory, but, in her case, she is writing a novel. She supports Rory, showing up at ball games and hanging out when they can, but Shanti also has dreams and ambitions she doesn’t want to put aside. Both main characters would like to pursue their personal goals and also find time for personal relationships. To make matters worse, it appears they will only have the summer while Shanti is in town helping at her grandparents’ B&B. After that, it would likely be a long-distance relationship.

The story is set in Prince Edward Island and refers to various places and events on the
island, but it could easily be located anywhere as the realistic situations and
characters seem universal.

The novel is a high interest/low vocabulary book which has a reading level of 4.8. The themes will resonate with young adult readers, and the language of the story will present no obstacles to their enjoyment.

Line Drive to Love will appeal to a diverse audience. It is part of Lorimer’s “Real Love” collection of young adult novels and LGBTQ+ fiction. Romantics will enjoy the relationship of Rory and Shanti, and sports fans will relate to Rory’s ambition as a player as well as to the many team dynamics in the book. Jendrick gives her readers game scenarios as well as a chance to see the interpersonal relationships behind the scenes.