In Somewhere I Belong, we meet young P.J. Kavanaugh at North Boston Station. His father has died, the Depression is on, and his mother is moving them back home. They settle in, and P.J. makes new friends. But the P.E.I. winter is harsh, the farm chores endless, and his teacher a drunken bully. He soon wants to go home; the problem is how.

A letter arrives from Aunt Mayme announcing a Babe Ruth charity baseball game in the old neighbourhood. But Ma won’t let him go. P.J is devastated. The weeks pass, then there is an accident on the farm. P.J. becomes a hero and Ma changes her mind. He travels to Boston, sees his friends, watches Babe Ruth hit a home run, and renews his attachment to the place. But his eagerness to return to the Island makes him wonder where he really belongs.

Glenna Jenkins is a writer whose Prince Edward Island roots date back to the early 1800s. The characters and events in her stories are gleaned from real-life family events that took place both on the Island and in New England. Her short stories have appeared Riptides: New Island Fiction and Snow Softly Falling: Holiday Stories from Prince Edward Island. Glenna Lives in Lunenburg, Nova Scotia with her husband, four children and two dogs. Somewhere I Belong is her first novel.

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A Welcome New Voice

by rockbound