EAGLES AND HAWKS AND ALSO PEOPLE AS WELL is a bittersweet tale about growing up
Verdict: Frank Marcopolos delivers drama and humor in a poignant story about a college baseball player looking for his way into the big league. 5 out of 5 stars.
Mini-synopsis: Enzo Prinziatta wants to become a baseball pro. His family, friends and his girlfriend though have other plans for him.
Enzo is the star player of the New Paltz Hawks, a college baseball team in the upstate New York. After their latest defeat, Enzo gets an offer to join the Hawks' arch-rivals, the far more successful Cortland Eagles. For Enzo, this might be a first step towards fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Yet, he can't help having doubts about leaving his team and his home town. …show more content…
The novel could have used this relationship to point out the correct decision for Enzo. Instead, Frank Marcopolos depicts a realistically messy relationship full of insecurities, selfishness, and jealousy. Enzo isn't drawn towards Shannon because of love, but out of his sense of guilt about their unborn child. He wants to do the right thing yet dreads spending life with someone he dislikes.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Enzo's faith is a surprisingly important part of his story. Deeply disturbed by a family tragedy, former troublemaker Enzo turns to Catholicism. His faith is solemn and earnest in a way most often met among the very young and the very old. Throughout the novel, his beliefs are challenged both by the increasingly stifling life in his home town and by the larger, stranger world waiting outside it. There's a poignantly true description of Enzo's situation in his stepfather's seemingly trivial retelling of the story of Icarus:
‘Hey! Don’t fly too low because the humidity from the water will slow you down too much, but also don’t fly too high because then the sun will melt the wax which holds the wings
Verdict: Frank Marcopolos delivers drama and humor in a poignant story about a college baseball player looking for his way into the big league. 5 out of 5 stars.
Mini-synopsis: Enzo Prinziatta wants to become a baseball pro. His family, friends and his girlfriend though have other plans for him.
Enzo is the star player of the New Paltz Hawks, a college baseball team in the upstate New York. After their latest defeat, Enzo gets an offer to join the Hawks' arch-rivals, the far more successful Cortland Eagles. For Enzo, this might be a first step towards fulfilling a life-long dream of becoming a professional baseball player. Yet, he can't help having doubts about leaving his team and his home town. …show more content…
The novel could have used this relationship to point out the correct decision for Enzo. Instead, Frank Marcopolos depicts a realistically messy relationship full of insecurities, selfishness, and jealousy. Enzo isn't drawn towards Shannon because of love, but out of his sense of guilt about their unborn child. He wants to do the right thing yet dreads spending life with someone he dislikes.
Somewhat unexpectedly, Enzo's faith is a surprisingly important part of his story. Deeply disturbed by a family tragedy, former troublemaker Enzo turns to Catholicism. His faith is solemn and earnest in a way most often met among the very young and the very old. Throughout the novel, his beliefs are challenged both by the increasingly stifling life in his home town and by the larger, stranger world waiting outside it. There's a poignantly true description of Enzo's situation in his stepfather's seemingly trivial retelling of the story of Icarus:
‘Hey! Don’t fly too low because the humidity from the water will slow you down too much, but also don’t fly too high because then the sun will melt the wax which holds the wings