MUDVILLE

The rain started in the fourth inning of the big game between two rival towns. The game was called and never replayed, because it has continued to rain for 22 years. Amid endless theories that attempt to explain the unexplainable, Roy’s father has built a business based on the rain and townspeople have adjusted their lives to indoor pursuits, with outdoor activities taking place in other towns. And then it stops raining. Roy’s stream-of-consciousness narration is so unfiltered that it is nearly impossible to discern relevant from extraneous information. There is a plethora of eccentric characters, changing loyalties and strange events. Scaletta tries too hard in every way: He mixes fantasy, mystery, coming-of-age angst, family dynamics, play-by-play baseball and more. While the outcome of the replayed baseball game and Roy’s heroics are typical of the genre, there is no real denouement to all the other elements, and in the end readers probably won’t care. (Fiction. 9-12)