Close Call - Softcover

Strasser, Todd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 039923134X ISBN 13: 9780399231346

Publisher: Putnam Juvenile, 1999

Synopsis

Ian loves to play baseball, so he does not understand why lately there have been problems at every game, from arguments over calls to high-school hoods throwing rocks.

About this title

About the Author:

Joanna Campbell appears here with her six-year-old Thoroughbred, Meyersville Magic, known around the barn as CC. He's a son of Horatius out of Northwich by Timothy's Champ and is owned by Cathy Day. Formerly trained for racing, he is now being trained for eventing. Last Year he was the Maine Entry Level Champion in Combined Training.

From Publishers Weekly:

Strasser (Kidnap Kids; Help! I'm Trapped in Obedience School) covers all the bases in his latest middle-grade caper, whose winning elements include fully formed characters, snappy, credible dialogue and a quick-moving plot that tackles real-life issues with a light touch. Baseball fanatics, Ian and his friends would happily spend every afternoon on the diamond, but things get in the way: ordinarily cheerful Jenny begins refuting reasonable calls against her, runs off the field when she doesn't get her way and gradually becomes a no-show. On some days a group of high school tough guys, among them Jenny's stepbrother, throws rocks at the youngsters and forces them to abandon their games. Ian, an unusually level-headed and thoughtful 11-year-old, reaches out to the troubled Jenny and her stepbrother with the help of his perceptive mother who, the boy muses, sometimes would "ask just enough questions to get you thinking about something. Then she'd leave you to figure out the rest on your own." Strasser's solid story should score points with girls as well as boys, especially those more accustomed to holding a baseball glove than a book. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Putnam Juvenile
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 039923134X
• ISBN 13: 9780399231346
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 118