REBEL ROOKIE

It would be a misuse of language to call Peter Hatch the hero of this book; protagonist is closer, antagonist even better. At 17, Pete is in a Boy's Home and the author labels him immediately: ""At no time during his life had he ever felt a sense of security and contentment."" He has a violent temper, no manners, and suffers from what seems to be a text book case of paranoia. Peter runs away from the Home after being framed as a thief and is picked up by a warm-hearted older man who just happens to be going to the town where the Rookie Clinic run by the Ravens baseball team is being held. In two weeks at the clinic, Pete learns to control his temper; is offered a try-out with the team; and the kindly man turns out to be Pete's dead father's dearest friend and general manager of the Ravens. Even Freud needed more time to cure a patient.