Sons from Afar

With Dicey and her friends Mina and Jeff away at college, Sons From Afar turns its attention to younger brothers James and Sammy.

He and Sammy begin an investigation across Maryland leading to adventures in Easton, Annapolis, and Baltimore to find clues about the life and character of their father.

Sammy at first is uninterested in the man who abandoned their mother and his four children, thinking it has no real bearing on him, but he goes along with James for brotherly support.

Their roles eventually become reversed after James has an epiphany about accepting himself for what he is and Sammy realises he needs to start asking questions about himself and where he is heading.

His part-time job at a doctor's office and his helping diagnose a patient with a bladder problem is a main factor in his change of heart.

This attitude changes when Sammy sees James remain calm throughout the bar fight, talking the men down until the boys are able to leave.

Sammy proposes at the very end, that they team up their strengths to protect Maybeth from men who might ruin her life, the way their father did to their mother.

While having this talent and skills in cooking and sewing, Maybeth struggles to maintain decent grades in all school courses other than home economics.

James takes a part-time job in a medical office and answers the distressed call of a man with urinary retention and thinks of an episode in a book he read.

First edition (publ. Atheneum Books )