Magic Time

A "warmhearted" small-town novel, full of "endearing characters and baseball lore," by the author of Shoeless Joe ( Publishers Weekly).   Mike Houle is a college all-star second baseman in his junior year when he turns down a fourth-round draft pick offer from the Montreal Expos. He'll finish his business degree and try his luck again next year.   But Mike's final year in college sees his performance take a downward slide, and his big league dreams are going the way of his stats. When Mike's agent offers him a chance to play in the Cornbelt League in Iowa, Mike can't refuse. He can even handle the isolation of living in Grand Mound once he learns he's a cinch to start at second base.   Sure enough, Mike's never played better than on the Grand Mound Greenshirts, and he even begins to fall for the town's charms—including a certain Tracy Ellen Powell. That is, until he starts to suspect that when the good citizens of Grand Mound lure young men into their town, they have more on their minds than just baseball . . .   "Kinsella hits another home run." — The Edmonton Journal