About the Book

Press Release

Small Town Secrets Offer Lessons in Life by Dale Glenn

A boy comes of age in a small town that has its own way of doing things, sometimes outside the law, in Purcell Station, a new novel released by Dog Ear Publishing.

(release date) BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – Twelve-year-old Garrett Gentry has no idea what he is about to find when he steps off a train to spend the summer in Purcell Station, Indiana. In this coming-of-age story set in the Cold War summer of l952, Garrett discovers his family legacy in a town rich, not in material wealth, but in character and characters. Then one day he stumbles onto something he wasn’t supposed to see. That’s when he realizes Purcell Station has some secrets to share.

Drawing on his family’s roots in Knox County, Indiana, author Dale Glenn weaves a heartwarming story of l950’s innocence, compassion, redemption, and rebirth.

Staying with his grandparents, Garrett meets Jimmy, a seventeen-year-old neighbor who has a bootleg radio station in a shack in his back yard, and Skipper, a pretty, fifteen-year-old tomboy from the town’s most prominent family. Together, they immerse Garrett into the rich, patriotic culture of Purcell Station, characterized by parades, baseball games, swimming in the river, trains, sodas at the drugstore, free shows on Saturday night, hard work in the melon fields, and the perpetual softball game on a vacant lot on Main Street.

Then things begin to happen. A dark side of the town appears. The town bully and his lawless cousins terrorize the town’s slow-witted whipping boy; a mysterious stranger keeps appearing and disappearing; and a kidnapping and tragic accident shock the town. When Garrett and Skipper stumble across a secret hideout, they can’t resist the temptation to find out more. Is something sinister going on? The pursuit of the answer takes them on a frightening midnight search for clues.

Dale Glenn was born in Knox County, Indiana, where his family roots go back to the 1880s, and where this novel takes place. A graduate of Indiana University, he began his career as an English teacher at Speedway High School in Indianapolis, then became assistant principal and basketball coach at Huntingburg High School. Since then he has served as a middle school principal in Bloomington and as an adjunct professor at Indiana University. He and his wife, Teresa, live in Bloomington.

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For additional information, please visit www.Purcellstation.com.

Purcell Station: A Novel

Dale Glenn

Dog Ear Publishing

ISBN: 978-1-4575-1968-0 312 pages $17.95 US

Available at Ingram, Amazon.com, Barnes & Noble and fine bookstores everywhere.

About Dog Ear Publishing, LLC

Dog Ear Publishing offers completely customized self-publishing services for independent authors. We provide cost-effective, fast, and highly profitable services to publish and distribute independently published books. Our book publishing and distribution services reach worldwide. Dog Ear authors retain all rights and complete creative control throughout the entire self-publishing process. Self-publishing services are available globally at www.dogearpublishing.net

and from our offices in Indianapolis.

Dog Ear Publishing – self-publishing that actually makes sense.

It is the summer of l952 and the Cold War in on. When a family crisis sends twelve-year-old Garrett Gentry to spend the summer in Purcell Station, Indiana, he has no idea what he is going to find. Clinging to the last year of his boyhood, Garrett discovers his family legacy in a town that is rich, not in material wealth, but in character and characters. Then one day in the basement of Slinker’s General Store he stumbles onto something he wasn’t supposed to see. That’s when he realizes Purcell Station has some secrets to share.

In this heartwarming, coming-of-age story of l950’s innocence, compassion, redemption, and rebirth, Garret is grounded in the wisdom of his Baptist grandmother who says: “Life is one trial after another to see who has the mettle to stand up and do the right thing.”

Alone and away from home for the first time, Garrett sets out on two journeys: the train ride to Purcell Station and the other a journey more subtle: trying to hang on to the final days of his boyhood. Staying with his grandparents, he finds himself enfolded in a loving cocoon of neighbors and townspeople who take him in and make him feel welcome. Then he meets Jimmy, a seventeen-year-old neighbor who runs a bootleg radio station from a “shack” in his back yard, and Skipper, a fifteen-year-old tomboy from the town’s most prominent family. They take Garrett under their wings and immerse him into the culture of Purcell Station: the mysteries of the river; free shows on Saturday night; baseball games at the Sand Bowl; salty dogs at the drugstore; softball games at the vacant lot on Main Street; train rides to the city; and hard work in the melon fields. Jimmy makes him his sidekick on his radio broadcasts of the local semi-pro baseball team.

But then things begin to happen. The dark side of Purcell Station appears: Jesse, the town bully, and his lawless cousins terrorize the slow-witted Spooks; a stranger keeps appearing and disappearing, arousing suspicion; a kidnapping and tragic accident shock the town; and a midnight trek down the river reveals a secret the town’s citizens don’t want to talk about.

As the mysteries begin to unfold, the soul of the community emerges as Garrett’s grandmother’s words about trials and mettle and doing the right thing become manifest. In this heartfelt story of community, compassion, and redemption, Garret, in this magical summer of his twelfth year, learns who he is and where he came from. More importantly, he learns who he will become--realizing he is almost there.