Free Radical — Claire Rudolf Murphy

Luke McHenry loves baseball. After repeated disappointments, he is determined to make the All Star team. Then his mother makes an explosive confession: 31 years ago she was involved in an antiâ€"Vietnam War protest that went horribly wrong, and a student was killed. Mom has been in hiding ever since, but now she is ready to turn herself in. While her whole life in Alaska has been a masquerade, for Luke it is his only reality. Suddenly, everything -- from the baseball season to his very identity -- is in jeopardy.
As Luke witnesses his mother's struggle to face up to the mistakes of her youth, he begins to understand his own hopes and fears -- and who he really is. Free Radical is both a contemporary coming-of-age story and a moving depiction of a parent's guilt and need for forgiveness.