Since I’ve been dripping out the first few chapters of Slider, I’ve received a number of responses. Some favorable, some not so much.
Slider tells the story of how an extraordinary group of young men overcome unimaginable grief after 12 friends and teammates are brutally murdered. It is a work of fiction. Nothing more. Some have said the background in which the story takes place—high school baseball—is itself a racist institution. It is not. Anyone can play. The color of one’s skin does not enter into it.
But competitive spirit, tenacity, and the ability to overcome insurmountable obstacles does. Like dubious school boards trying to shut down baseball programs. And judicial systems that arrest coaches and throw them in jail. How do such actions affect the students, the parents, and the community? Slider answers.
Yes, Slider celebrates victory and refuses to accept defeat. Some have asked where’s the equity in that? Simple answer: In life there are winners and there are losers. Winners get the trophy and losers get to try again. It pays to be a winner. If there’s a message in Slider, that is it.
I hope you’ll see and judge for yourself how well this phenomenal group of student/athletes overcomes the unthinkable and grows a lifetime in just 90,000 words.
--Chris