The Unhappiest Boy in America: A Novel

During the heyday of the Great American Soapbox Derby upwards of 100,000 people used to flock annually to Akron, Ohio, along with movie stars and the world’s press to watch children coast down a hill in small, motorless racers. The Soapbox Derby used to be big; big enough to attract big money and big cheating. The inevitable result was the cheating scandal of 1973. It was a scandal that rocked Akron, affected those involved for the rest of their lives and came to be viewed as a symbol of the corruption that seemed to be bringing down the nation, embodied most notably by the quagmire in Vietnam and the bigger scandal taking place in Washington: Watergate. Its primary victim was the young boy who was caught cheating.
In The Unhappiest Boy in America Jan Pancake, a young intern at a daily newspaper in present day Akron, learns the ropes of journalism and looks for her big scoop. Her dogged investigation of the cheating scandal of 1973 reopens decades old wounds and the human toll on those involved. This novel, loosely based on the actual event, entwines past and present in a story-within-a-story with elements of humor, pathos, inspiration and romance. Readers will root for both Jan and the unhappy boy who tried too hard to be a winner.