Home Field (Paperback) by Hannah Gersen

About the Book

"As the high school football coach in his small, rural Maryland town, Dean is a hero who reorganized the athletic program and brought the state championship to the community. When he married Nicole, the beloved town sweetheart, he seemed to have it all--until his troubled wife committed suicide. Now, everything Dean thought he knew is thrown off kilter as Nicole's death forces him to re-evaluate all of his relationships, including those with his team and his three children"--

Book Synopsis

The heart of Friday Night Lights meets the emotional resonance and nostalgia of My So-Called Life in this moving debut novel about tradition, family, love, and football.

As the high school football coach in his small, rural Maryland town, Dean is a hero who reorganized the athletic program and brought the state championship to the community. When he married Nicole, the beloved town sweetheart, he seemed to have it all--until his troubled wife committed suicide. Now, everything Dean thought he knew is thrown off kilter as Nicole's death forces him to re-evaluate all of his relationships, including those with his team and his three children.

Dean's eleven-year old son, Robbie, is withdrawing at home and running away from school. Bry, who is only eight, is struggling to understand his mother's untimely death and his place in the family. Eighteen-year-old Stephanie, a freshman at Swarthmore, is torn between her new identity as a rebellious and sophisticated college student, her responsibility towards her brothers, and reeling from missing her mother. As Dean struggles to continue to lead his team to victory in light of his overwhelming personal loss, he must fix his fractured family--and himself. When a new family emergency arises, Dean discovers that he'll never view the world in the same way again.

Transporting readers to the heart of small town America, Home Field is an unforgettable, poignant story about the pull of the past and the power of forgiveness.

From the Back Cover

As the high school football coach in his small, rural Maryland town, Dean is a hero who brought the state championship to the community. When he married Nicole, the beloved town sweetheart, he seemed to have it all--until his troubled wife committed suicide. Now, everything Dean thought he knew about his life and the people in it is thrown off-kilter as Nicole's death forces him to reevaluate all of his relationships, including those with his team and his children.

Dean's eleven-year old son, Robbie, is withdrawing at home and running away from school. Bry, who is only eight, is struggling to understand his mother's untimely death and his place in the family. Eighteen-year-old Stephanie, a freshman at Swarthmore, is torn between her new identity as a rebellious and sophisticated college student, her responsibility toward her brothers, and reeling from missing her mother. As Dean struggles to continue to lead his team to victory in light of his overwhelming personal loss, he must fix his fractured family--and himself. When a new family emergency arises, Dean discovers that he'll never view the world in the same way again.

Review Quotes

"Gersen's characters are so full, so gently flawed, and so deeply human that it's nearly impossible to resist falling into their world, with all its sorrow and all its subtle joy. A moving all-American family saga; fiction's answer to Friday Night Lights."--Kirkus Reviews

"[An] elegant first novel...Gersen's writing walks a lyrical tightrope...[and] uncovers the unflinching truths in families that wound us and somehow, miraculously, save us."--Robin Antalek, author of The Grown Ups and The Summer We Fell Apart

"This is Friday Night Lights on the mid-Atlantic but one degree deeper...A tender, touching, unfogettable read...You won't put this book down until everyone in Home Field has made it safely home."--Jessica Anya Blau, author of The Trouble with Lexie

"This is a deeply felt novel that both moved and entertained me, and I didn't want to stop reading it. An auspicious debut by a talented and wise writer."--Edan Lepucki, author of New York Times bestseller California