Zombie Baseball Beatdown

ZOMBIE BASEBALL BEATDOWN by Paola Bacigalupi. Read by Sunil Malhotra. Listening Library, 2014.

Espionage, cows,
Immigration, zombies, and
Mysteries to solve.

Baseball Is...

BASEBALL IS... by Louise Borden. Illustrated by Raul Colon. McElderry, 2014.

This homage to baseball covers all the bases (pun intended) from leagues, to ballparks, to fans, and players. Colon's earthen tones are perfectly suited for a game played on grass and dirt.

the lonely and the brave

WE MARCH by Shane Evans (Neal Porter/Roaring Brook, 2012) is a simple homage to the brave men and women and children who gathered on the Mall in Washington, DC, in the summer of 1963. The words are spare and the illustrations are simple yet radiate all sorts of quiet strength. History teachers should consider taking this into the classroom to supplement the textbook. <711>



THERE GOES TED WILLIAMS: THE GREATEST HITTER WHO EVER LIVED (Candlewick Press 2012) by Matt Tavares simply exudes joy. From the joy in the face of the young Ted Williams as he breaks high school records and is signed to a contract at the tender age of 17, to the newly minted big leaguer Ted Williams as he practices until his hands bleed. This biography clearly communicates the incredible joy that Williams found in his sport. <712>





THE LONELY BOOK by Kate Bernheimer with illustrations by Chris Sheban (Schwartz and Wade 2012) shows how much the love of a reader can do in the life of a book. As the story opens, the book is new. It is frequently checked out and lovingly read. Eventually, though, the new-ness wears off and the book is relegated to a normal shelf where sometimes it will sit for a long time without anyone reading it. The special bond between a book and a reader comes to life in this lovely story. <713>

life throws us curves

Jordan Sonnenblick's new novel, CURVEBALL: THE YEAR I LOST MY GRIP (Scholastic, March 2012) is the story of two best friends who had their lives planned out on the baseball field. But Peter has been ignoring the pain in his elbow too long and as he releases a pitch, he knows his plans are going to have to change. Peter Friedman, pitcher, becomes Peter Friedman, the photographer. He has learned from the best: his own grandfather. Perhaps Peter can put a new life plan together. All it will take is dealing with telling the truth to his best friend (there will be no more pitching), his parents (his grandfather seems to be sinking into Alzheimer's complications faster and faster without letting anyone know), and himself. Sonnenblick's books work because readers are drawn into the lives of the characters he so carefully crafts. <650>