Plot Summary
The Prince of Fenway Park
Julianna Baggott
The Prince of Fenway Park
Fiction | Novel | Middle Grade | Published in 2009
Plot Summary
Julianna Baggott’s young adult fantasy novel, The Prince of Fenway Park, is about Oscar, a little boy who lives in Boston in 2004 with two adopted white parents whom he feels don't really want him. When Oscar's adopted mother drops him off at his biological father's house when she has to go away on a business trip, Oscar discovers that his father is part of an ancient Celtic fairy underworld that exists under Fenway Park. Oscar seeks to break his own curse and the eighty-six-year curse that haunts the Red Sox.
Oscar, a mixed-race boy, lives in Boston with his adopted white parents who recently got divorced. Oscar feels as if he is cursed, just like his favorite team the Boston Red Sox, which has not won a game in eighty-six years. Abandoned by his birth parents, Oscar is now being neglected by his adopted parents; he wonders if anyone has ever or will ever want him around. Oscar is also brutally bullied and misunderstood at school among his peers. He feels alone in the world, with no one to turn to.
Just before Oscar's twelfth birthday, his adoptive mother decides to go against the wishes of Oscar's adoptive father and to drop Oscar off with his birth father, a man whom he has never met before. She does this because she hopes to pursue a romantic relationship with a local man who calls himself the King of Condos – he is wealthy and powerful in the real estate market. Oscar's adoptive mother tells Oscar not to complain because if he plays his cards right, he can become the Prince of Condos.
Oscar's father is a strange and reclusive man. At first, Oscar feels uncomfortable staying in a new apartment with a man who, though he is related to Oscar, is foreign to him. Oscar's father takes him into his home, and soon Oscar discovers a world that he never imagined was possible. As it turns out, Oscar's father is part of an underground fairy world that exists under Fenway Park. Based on Celtic myth, the world includes fairies, banshees, and strange ducks with odd powers. Oscar's father and a gang of his friends are cursed, and their curse is the reason that the Red Sox has not won a World Series in decades.
Together with his father, friends, and many of the magical creatures populating this underground world beneath the city, Oscar makes it his mission to end the curse and change the lives of his family and his favorite sports team forever. Along the way, Oscar learns about Celtic mythology, his own family history, and meets some of the biggest stars in baseball – his heroes, who finally make him feel as if he is wanted and his life is worthwhile.
In order to break the curse, Oscar is required to assemble a team of historic baseball players, some of the best that have ever lived, and bring them to Fenway Park. This is no easy task for a twelve-year-old boy from the city, but Oscar steps to the challenge without fear. Baggott makes it clear that part of this curse is the curse of racism, which haunts baseball and Fenway Park, and which, also, haunts Oscar and his father. Baggott does not shy away from talking about racial issues in contemporary life and in history, with a particular focus on sports history. Combining many elements of Boston culture, The Prince of Fenway Park is an inspiring tale about a boy who overcomes his struggles to find his place in a world of both fantasy and reality.
Julianna Baggott, a novelist, essayist, and poet, teaches as an associate professor at Florida State University's College of Motion Pictures. She also writes under the pen name Bridget Asher. She writes books for all ages and has published more than twenty novels under her own and her pen name. She began publishing when she was twenty-two years old, and received an MFA in Fiction from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Baggott's poetry and short stories have been published in dozens of prominent literary journals, and her novels and short stories are frequently optioned for television and films. She lives in Florida with her husband and their four children.
Oscar, a mixed-race boy, lives in Boston with his adopted white parents who recently got divorced. Oscar feels as if he is cursed, just like his favorite team the Boston Red Sox, which has not won a game in eighty-six years. Abandoned by his birth parents, Oscar is now being neglected by his adopted parents; he wonders if anyone has ever or will ever want him around. Oscar is also brutally bullied and misunderstood at school among his peers. He feels alone in the world, with no one to turn to.
Just before Oscar's twelfth birthday, his adoptive mother decides to go against the wishes of Oscar's adoptive father and to drop Oscar off with his birth father, a man whom he has never met before. She does this because she hopes to pursue a romantic relationship with a local man who calls himself the King of Condos – he is wealthy and powerful in the real estate market. Oscar's adoptive mother tells Oscar not to complain because if he plays his cards right, he can become the Prince of Condos.
Oscar's father is a strange and reclusive man. At first, Oscar feels uncomfortable staying in a new apartment with a man who, though he is related to Oscar, is foreign to him. Oscar's father takes him into his home, and soon Oscar discovers a world that he never imagined was possible. As it turns out, Oscar's father is part of an underground fairy world that exists under Fenway Park. Based on Celtic myth, the world includes fairies, banshees, and strange ducks with odd powers. Oscar's father and a gang of his friends are cursed, and their curse is the reason that the Red Sox has not won a World Series in decades.
Together with his father, friends, and many of the magical creatures populating this underground world beneath the city, Oscar makes it his mission to end the curse and change the lives of his family and his favorite sports team forever. Along the way, Oscar learns about Celtic mythology, his own family history, and meets some of the biggest stars in baseball – his heroes, who finally make him feel as if he is wanted and his life is worthwhile.
In order to break the curse, Oscar is required to assemble a team of historic baseball players, some of the best that have ever lived, and bring them to Fenway Park. This is no easy task for a twelve-year-old boy from the city, but Oscar steps to the challenge without fear. Baggott makes it clear that part of this curse is the curse of racism, which haunts baseball and Fenway Park, and which, also, haunts Oscar and his father. Baggott does not shy away from talking about racial issues in contemporary life and in history, with a particular focus on sports history. Combining many elements of Boston culture, The Prince of Fenway Park is an inspiring tale about a boy who overcomes his struggles to find his place in a world of both fantasy and reality.
Julianna Baggott, a novelist, essayist, and poet, teaches as an associate professor at Florida State University's College of Motion Pictures. She also writes under the pen name Bridget Asher. She writes books for all ages and has published more than twenty novels under her own and her pen name. She began publishing when she was twenty-two years old, and received an MFA in Fiction from the University of North Carolina in Greensboro. Baggott's poetry and short stories have been published in dozens of prominent literary journals, and her novels and short stories are frequently optioned for television and films. She lives in Florida with her husband and their four children.