Road to Delano

By: John DeSimone

Narrated by: Ramon De Ocampo

Length: 14 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

Jack Duncan is a high school senior whose dream is to play baseball in college and beyond - as far away from Delano as possible. He longs to escape the political turmoil surrounding the labor struggles of the striking fieldworkers that infests his small ag town. Ever since his father, a grape grower, died under suspicious circumstances 10 years earlier, he's had to be the sole emotional support of his mother.

With their property on the verge of a tax sale, Jack drives an old combine into town to sell it so he and his mother don't become homeless. On the road, an old friend of his father's shows up and hands him the police report indicating Jack's father was murdered. Jack is compelled to dig deep to discover the entire truth, which throws him into the heart of the corruption endemic in the Central Valley. Everything he has dreamed of is at stake if he can't control his impulse for revenge.

While Jack's girlfriend, the intelligent and articulate Ella, warns him not to do anything to jeopardize their plans of moving to LA, after graduation, Jack turns to his best friend, Adrian, a star player on the team, to help to save his mother's land. When Jack's efforts to rescue a stolen piece of farm equipment leaves Adrian in a catastrophic situation, Jack must bail his friend out of his dilemma before it ruins his future prospects.

©2019 John DeSimone (P)2019 HighBridge, a division of Recorded Books

Highly Recommended for Fans of Historical Fiction

As a fan of historical fiction, I prefer to learn history incidentally, through the eyes of an interesting, believable character with a challenging plight who I can root for. I want a well-told story with a healthy dose of drama and adventure. Add in the right narrator, and I'm in listening heaven. That's where I hoped The Road to Delano would take me, and I was not disappointed.

Mr. DeSimone’s story takes place in California’s San Joaquin Valley in the 1960s when Cesar Chavez worked earnestly for the rights of immigrant field workers. I found Mr. DeSimone’s depiction of Chavez and his efforts to be empathetic yet unbiased, and based on careful and meticulous research. I felt like an observer, not coerced into taking sides, and learning in the process.

Of course, this wasn’t why I chose to purchase the book. I wanted a great story with a historical backdrop. I wanted a story that was hard to stop listening to when perhaps I should be doing other things. I got all of that and more.