The Pinballs

Content Warning: The source material deals openly and frequently with mental, emotional, and physical abuse of children. This abuse and its psychological ramifications are discussed in detail through the entirety of the source text and are one of its primary themes. The source text also briefly discusses abandonment, alcoholism, and suicidal ideation. Resources for those affected by these topics are linked in Further Reading & Resources.

One summer in the mid-1970s, two boys and one girl arrive at the Masons’ foster home for various reasons. The first boy, Harvey, was taken from his alcoholic father after his father ran over him with a car and broke both of his legs. The second boy, Thomas J, was abandoned at the home of the elderly Benson twins when he was two years old and kept secret for six more years until the women became unable to care for him. The girl, Carlie, is abrasive, especially when someone gets in the way of her television watching. She did not get along with her stepfather, who hit her and gave her a concussion, the injury that led to her removal.