Close Call

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.

Grade 4-6-This novel centers on a group of ethnically diverse fifth- and sixth-grade boys and girls who gather to play baseball almost daily. Baseball is not the main focus of the action, however, and the book reads more like a soap opera than a sports story. Jenny's behavior on the field has changed drastically and her friends soon discover that her family is having problems. Her stepfather is in a drug-treatment center, her mother has had to get a job, and Jenny has to baby-sit for her younger brother and therefore can't play as often. Also, her semi-delinquent older stepbrother and his high school buddies disrupt the games by throwing rocks at the kids. In the end, Jenny's baseball pals help solve all of her problems so that they can all play in peace. The plot is heavy-handed and unrealistic, and the solutions are too convenient. The dialogue does not ring true for the age group. There is sparse baseball action and far too little comic relief. For a lighter approach, more play-by-play, and better writing, stick with Matt Christopher's many titles.
Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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.