ABQ author Sue Houser combines baseball, family and the Roaring ’20s in latest book

The Chicago Cubs are 12-year-old Walter Hammond’s favorite baseball team. Walter and his parents live a few blocks from Wrigley Field, the Cubs’ ballpark.

Naturally, Walter is over the moon to attend the Cubs’ home opener of the 1927 season with his dad, Fred.

Waiting for him outside the field, Walter recognizes gangster Al Capone in “an electric blue suit” getting out of a black car and heading for the entrance. (Capone returns later in the novel as a minor character.)

That’s the opening scene of the new book for middle-school readers “Walter Steps to the Plate” by Albuquerque author Sue Houser.

Walter’s love of baseball is felt throughout the book, though he doesn’t go to any more Cubs games. And he can’t hang out with his buddies Henry and Bugsy.

A serious family matter arises that rearranges Walter’s life: His mother Lily has tuberculosis and Walter accompanies her to Albuquerque, a town with a reputation for its sunny, dry climate and sanatoriums for TB sufferers.

The title of this warm story refers to Walter’s sense of duty to family.

ABQ author Sue Houser combines baseball, family and the Roaring ’20s in latest book

Walter and his mother ride the train to New Mexico. He feels pangs of separation anxiety. He’s already missing his pals, his dad, who stays behind, his baseball team and the city where he grew up.

His mother sees the sadness in his demeanor and tries to cheer him up by having him think about the move — and the train ride — as adventures. On the train Walter hangs out with a young girl named Daphne, who’s traveling alone to see her mother in Los Angeles. (Later, an amazed Walter sees Daphne in an “Our Gang” comedy short in the Sunshine Theater in Downtown Albuquerque.)

If Walter’s mother’s condition improves enough, they might return to Chicago in a matter of months.

In Albuquerque, Walter and his mother stay in the home of his Uncle Ernie, Aunt Edith and their teenaged son, Sherwood. Cousin Sherwood is not immediately accepting of the prospect of Walter’s extended stay in his home.

Readers see the many aspects of Walter’s personality — his generosity, his sense of fair play, his kindness, his inquisitiveness.

Walter is not only aware of his mother’s physical health, he wants to be a caregiver for her, a role his aunt partially fills. Walter frets over not doing enough for her.

He overhears that Uncle Ernie and Aunt Edith are spending a lot more money on groceries because of Walter’s appetite, maybe more than the host family can afford.

So big-hearted Walter gets an early morning job tossing the morning newspaper on the doorsteps of subscribers. Maybe his income can help pay the higher food bills.

Walter is overjoyed that one customer on his paper route is a baseball fan.

In his spare time, he walks around town, becoming familiar with Old Town and its Spanish-speaking residents, with Downtown, with the Native American artisans at the train station. He buys a turquoise bear from one artisan, who tells about its healing power. Walter buys the bear for his mom, hoping it will help cure her TB.

Lily’s condition — deep coughing, spitting up blood, feeling fatigue — gets worse before it gets better.

Soon Lily enters a sanatorium to receive treatments such as heliotherapy, exposure to the sun’s rays. Walter’s dad has to get a bank loan to cover the cost of the treatments.

Capone returns in later chapters as a tourist in New Mexico. The mobster is bucked off a horse at a Jemez Springs resort; Walter and his cousin give the injured Capone a ride back to Albuquerque; he’s staying at the Alvarado Hotel.

Grateful for the ride and for Walter doing earlier favors for him, Capone offers to pay for Lily’s extended sanatorium care. Walter politely rebuffs the offer, saying he, like Big Al, doesn’t want to be in debt to Capone.

Houser, the author, said her research found reports that Capone may indeed have vacationed at a Jemez Springs resort.

Asked about painting Walter so mature for a 12-year-old, Houser said, “What I’m thinking is that in 1927 kids were given more responsibility than they are today.”