52 pages 1 hour read

Carl Deuker

Heart of a Champion

Fiction | Novel | YA | Published in 1994

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Part 1Chapter Summaries & Analyses

Part 1, Chapter 1 Summary

Narrator Seth Barham is 17 years old and lives in Redwood City, California. As a little boy, he loved golf as a little boy. His father was a golfer. Now, however, Seth is completely into baseball. When Seth was seven years old, his father died in a hotel from a stroke; though his dad called the hotel switchboard operator for help, the operated assumed he was drunk and ignored his request. Thus, Seth’s father died without anybody coming to his aid. A neighbor told Seth at the time of his father’s funeral that Seth was now “the man of the house” (2). His mother immediately disputed this, telling him he was a little boy and he didn’t have to take care of anyone. 

Part 1, Chapter 2 Summary

Seth’s narrative flashes back five years to when Seth was in sixth grade.

Seth’s mother waited for a year before suing the hotel where his father died. The hotel dragged the case out for four years, and it was ruled a mistrial after three days. Seth went to San Francisco for the trial because he wanted to find out more about his father, whom he only vaguely remembers.