BASEBALL GREAT
Tim Green
HarperCollins Children’s Books
Fiction
ISBN: 9780061626869
250 pages

The best way to hook readers is to have an exciting first chapter that dumps them in at a moment of frenzy as well as peppers them with lots of unanswered questions. The writer has to keep his audience glued to the pages front to back with nerve-wracking, cliffhanger moments at the end of almost every chapter. And the writer who can throw in something interesting right out of the news headlines will be guaranteed a loyal following wherever he writes. Besides having these wise gifts, author Tim Green possesses extraordinary talent for managing metaphors that make his stories colorful and enjoyable. His passion for writing comparisons such as “The ball zipped at him like the blink of a bullet” and “…the pitcher jumped as if he’d stepped on a nail” creates vivid images sure to entertain.

BASEBALL GREAT is Green’s third offering of titles specifically targeted to young readers interested in sports. Girls and boys will enjoy the plots and the respect Green shows for the tween experience. He has an instinct about how kids think, talk and react, and never fails to point out how difficult it is sometimes to do the right thing but how valuable the choice is in the end.

Green plots a story around 12-year-old Josh LeBlanc and friends Benji (a silly, devoted best buddy) and Jaden Neidermeyer (a reporter for the school’s paper who happens to like asking tough questions to get a good article). She writes a pre-season piece foretelling that the school will win its first-ever city-wide championship on Josh’s batting abilities, but has to recant her prediction when Josh’s dad, a player in the local triple-A major baseball franchise, loses his post with the team and takes a job with another sports entity in town. Mr. LeBlanc goes to work for a championship boy’s baseball team as a salesperson and takes his son off the school team to play for the hardworking, semi-pro-like junior base running boys.

Rocky Valentine, the Titans owner and coach, allows Josh to try out for his U14 club. Josh has had a good model in his dad and makes the team. The older boys don’t embrace the upstart invader, and Josh is subjected to minor hazing, teasing and ostracism. He keeps his focus on the game by staying close to his dad and keeping a book handy for taking his mind off the negative parts of playing on this special team. Valentine markets a sports drink to his players, and Josh’s dad helps sell it to other teams and stores. Mr. LeBlanc makes Josh drink the stinky brew twice a day, telling him it will make him strong and give him the opportunities he didn’t have growing up, like excellent training, coaching and the chance to work with players throughout the game. Josh does as he is told, even though he is a better hitter than anybody on the team already.

When Josh’s special ability to see the pitch with a keen eye helps the Titans win a tournament, he is accepted by the team. They take him aside and give him a bottle of suspicious-looking tablets they call “gym candy.” Josh isn’t so sure about his new team or his new coach because the players claim the pills come from Coach Valentine. Confused about where to turn because he doesn’t want his dad to lose another job, Josh determines he can only trust his friends. There are tense moments, and the kids have to play things close to the bases, but the ideas of a few 12-year-olds make for an excellent resolution to the problem.

Tim Green has written another well-paced and entertaining book that will garner him a new group of fans. He already writes adult novels just waiting for these young readers to be ready for them. What a great way to grow his own fan club, with a great story and great writing about a baseball great!

    --- Reviewed by Joy Held

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