Dog on Third Base

James and the gang are busy with spring baseball practice until James's dog, Tag, whom they use for third base, disappears

Grade 2-4-- Graduates of easy readers deserve more depth to a story than is presented here. This sports/adventure set in Anytown, USA, features James, a boy with a common problem--he can't hit or catch a baseball. His friends give him what they call a "lucky" bat and his performance immediately improves. There are humorous moments when the gang needs to use James's dog, Tag, as third base after the real one mysteriously disappears. Then along comes the typical bully, Mean Mitchell, and his equally foul-tempered dog, Tiger, to spoil the fun. Tag vanishes after being accidentally hit by a baseball, and the gang sets out to find him. Neither the characters nor the plot are developed sufficiently to involve readers. Hiser leaves too many loose ends and unanswered questions such as what really happened to third base or why Mean Mitchell was such a relentless bully. --Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The only place the fourth-grade gang (No Bean Sprouts, Please!, 1989) can practice for their baseball game with the fifth graders is a vacant lot next to Mrs. Abernathy's house and garden. Besides worrying about keeping the ball out of her yard, they dread another confrontation with class bully Mean Mitchell and his vicious dog; they also need to find a replacement for third base. Reluctantly, James puts his dog Tag on third, only to have him disappear with the ball after it hits him. Following a fruitless search, they return to the lot and nemesis Mean Mitchell. In a satisfying reversal of fortune, Mrs. Abernathy appears with a cookie-sated Tag and takes Mean Mitchell in tow after he breaks her kitchen window. Lightweight fare, but the gang members are loyal and caring and the plot moves briskly along. A satisfactory choice for readers just moving into chapter books. Ewing's b&w drawings quietly add ethnic diversity to the group. (Fiction. 7-10) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.