⚾️Ballpark Mysteries Super Special #3: Subway Series Surprise by David A. Kelly, illustrated by Mark Meyers

The yearly Subway Series between the New York Yankees and the New York Mets may have been cancelled once again for the 2020 season, but young baseball fans can still enjoy some Subway Series excitement, thanks to David A. Kelly's Ballpark Mysteries Super Special #3: Subway Series Surprise. 

It all begins one Friday afternoon at Brooklyn's  Cyclone Stadium just off the Coney Island boardwalk. The Cyclones are a minor league team and during the seventh inning stretch, there's going to be a hot dog eating contest between Met fans and Yankee fans. And cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins are the lucky kids who get to help out. After helping out, they are given a hot dog paid for by a mysterious fan - one wearing a Mets jersey AND a Yankee hat, who left a puzzle on their napkin for them to figure out.  

Later, when Kate's mom picks them up, they are off to Mets stadium in Queens, where the first game of the Series is scheduled. Mrs. Hopkins, a sports reporter, tells them that someone has broken into the press box there. Then they discover that the only thing taken are Mrs. Hopkins' research notes. And it seems that the person who was last seen leaving the press box was wearing a Mets jersey and a Yankee hat. But the one person who fits that description is Rocco Sampson, the Mets Apple Manager, who has invited Kate and Mike to visit him if they are around for game 3. And he seems to have an airtight reason for mixing his teams, after all, it is the Subway Series.

But when Kate and Mike overhear someone they recognize talking on a cell phone in Grand Central Station's Whispering Gallery, suddenly all the pieces seem to fall into place so they can figure out who took the research notes, but not why? Boy, are they in for a surprise!

Subway Series Surprise is really a fun book for young readers. It has everything that makes a book exciting. There's a mystery, lots of baseball playing, some interesting baseball history, and a few New York City fun facts - like why Mike and Kate could hear a conversation even though they weren't near the speakers. At the back of the book, fans will find even more information about the New York Yankees and New York Mets, as well as the Whispering Gallery in Grand Central Station. 

Kelly really knows how to craft a book so that is ideal for the target age. The vocabulary is perfect for them, the story isn't so complicated that they got lost or bored, and the characters are believable and relatable.  

I read this to some 6- and 7-year-olds. Most of them aren't baseball fans yet, but have parents, siblings, uncles, aunts, and older cousins who are so I know it's just a matter of time. And what could be more complimentary then to have a young reader ask for more books in a series, which is just what happened. 

This book is recommended for readers age 8+

This book was purchased for my personal library

I come from a family that has a serious Mets and Yankees rivalry going on, so I know what a disappointment it is for them to have to forfeit the Subway Series twice in one summer. 

MMGM: Dan Unmasked by Chris Negron

Dan Sumner, 13, and Nate Templeton, 12, have been best friends since elementary school and their two favorite things in the world are playing baseball for the Mira Giants and comic books, but not just any comic books. They are devoted readers of Captain Nexus. In fact, each month, on the day the newest issue hits the stands, Dan, Nate, and the rest of their team gather in the Templeton basement along with Nate's younger brother Ollie and Ollie's new friend Courtney, the only girl.

But one afternoon, when Nate takes a fly ball to the head during a game, he suffers a traumatic brain injury, and ends up being put into a medically induced coma. Dan and Ollie are suddenly at odds ends with themselves and each other, sharing a sense of helplessness that at times feels overwhelming. Dan blames himself for what happened to Nate. They had been talking about how Captain Nexus might escape the Nexus Zone where he was stuck with his arch enemy the Hollow and get back to his family in New Mexico when the ball hit Nate.

Then Dan discovers that Ollie and Courtney are working on a fan-fiction Captain Nexus comic to surprise Nate for his upcoming birthday, hoping he'll be awake by then. Dan has been invited to join them because of his excellent printing skills. Ollie isn't athletic like his brother but he is already an accomplished artist, and Courtney is the talent behind the storyline. Dan begins to really get into the comic's creation, impressed by Ollie's art. Soon, though, Dan convinces himself that if Captain Nexus can escape the Nexus Zone, it would show him the way to help Nate come back from his coma. It may be magical thinking, but it's all he has and Dan is desperate for answers. When he hears about a fan art contest sponsored by Tall Ship Comics, publisher of Captain Nexus, Dan talks Courtney into submitting Ollie's work, sure it will lead them to a meeting with comic's creator George Sanderson and the answer to Captain Nexus's escape. 

As if Captain Nexus magical thinking weren't enough, Dan is convinced that if the Mira Giants win the championship that will also help bring Nate back. And he actually manages to convince the team that winning is the thing to do.

No one is more surprised that Ollie when he wins the fan art contest and George Sanderson, who was blown away by Ollie's art, delivers the news in person. But as they get to know him and he gets to know them, some very painful secrets and truths are revealed. In addition, old relationships are renewed and new ones begin. But will any of this help Nate?

The combination of baseball and comic books in Dan Unmasked is sure to please young readers. And Dan, Ollie, Courtney, and even George Sanderson are very individualized and fleshed out characters, but I found the other characters are somewhat nebulous, including Nate, the reason everyone is pulling together, though we do learn more about him as the story goes on. I have to admit it did take me a while to warm up to Dan. In the beginning, I found him to be obnoxious and selfish, so it was nice to see him change over the course of the novel. I did think it was interesting that Sanderson only planned on publishing 16 Captain Nexus issues and stuck to that. Usually, a comic needs a little more that one and a half years to catch on. And I did like the way he incorporated his own life story in his comic, producing an exciting work, but without much cathartic benefit for him.

I'm not a baseball fan, and there was a lot of baseball talk in Dan Unmasked, but I suspect I'm in the minority on this point. Also, I took a hard ball on a fly hit by a grown man when I was ten and it left me with permanent damage to the right side of my head and ear. As a result, I have a real fear of speeding baseballs. Naturally, I could feel Nate's pain and wondered he would have baseballphobia, too, when he woke up. I am more of a fan of comics, having grown up on a diet of Archie, Superman, and Little Lulu, so I did like that aspect of Dan's story. 

Dan Unmasked is an excellent story about hope, friendship, family, and learning to come to terms with the things we cannot change. Ultimately, what really got me was the strength of Dan's magical thinking, which was as strong as his feelings for his best friend.

This book is recommended for readers age 9+

This book was gratefully received from Barbara Fisch at Blue Slip Media

Meet the Author:

Chris Negron grew up outside Buffalo, NY, where he spent a huge chunk of his childhood collecting Comic books and loving sports. But it was the hours playing Dungeons and Dragons in friends' basements that first gave him the dream of one day writing his own stories. That dream kept him company through college at Yale University and years of programming computers for big companies. Dan Unmasked is his debut novel, and he now lives outside Atlanta with his wife, Mary. Visit him at www.chrisnegron.com

You can also find Chris on Twitter and Instagram 

You can find an in-depth interview with Chris over at Literary Rambles, thanks to Natalie Aguirre 

Be sure to check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, 

now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

MMGM: A High Five for Glenn Burke by Phil Bildner

Twelve-year-old Silas Wade loves baseball. He could play it, talk about, think about it, and probably even dream about it 24/7. And his baseball hero is Glenn Burke, a black major leaguer who played for the Los Angeles Dodgers beginning in 1976 and who, during some tense moments on the final weekend of the 1977 baseball season, invented the high five. Glenn Burke was also gay and when he came out, he was traded to the Oakland Athletics in 1979 and literally harassed out of baseball. Like Glenn, Silas is also gay and terrified people will discover it before he is ready for the world to know, especially his baseball teammates. 

To test the waters, during their Wednesday karaoke afternoon, Silas tells his best friend Zoey. At first, she's very supportive knowing about Silas, but after a while she begins to feel that being the only one who knows his secret is "weird." 

Silas' team, the Renegades, has a different third-base coach for the season (the other two coaches are Noles and Rockford). Coach Webb is an aggressive coach, and the Renegades are doing well under his guidance. But one of his rules is no taunting an opposing team with anything that could be perceived as racist, such as their monkey taunts and gestures.

Webb and Silas are quite simpatico when it comes to baseball, and enjoy talking about it with each other, especially their favorite baseball movie The Sandlot. Perhaps sensing he can trust Webb, one afternoon, while talking about Glenn Burke, Silas tells him he's gay.

After one of the players is called gay at a team visit to a trampoline park, Webb announces that there will be no more using the word gay as a put down. Renegades are expected to "respect everyone - LGTB, women, immigrants, Muslims, everyone," and that after the third offense, a player would be off the team. This causes a riff between Webb and Coach Noles, who quits the team, taking his son with him. The other members of the team decide it was Silas who snitched about the trampoline park incident, and to take the heat of himself, he tells them Zoey is his girlfriend. Now, she's done with Silas and his teammates think he's a liar. 

As much a Silas wants to be accepted for who he really is, maybe coming out isn't the best idea right now. 

As a story about Silas' desire to live an authentic life and his internal struggles with knowing he is gay, wanting to come out and be accepted, but living in fear that people will discover it, this is a book every middle grader should read. Silas' courage is inspiring, and he is a great character. At first, I found his obsessiveness, his lack of focus (baseball excepted), his speediness to be annoying, until I realized it was his anxiety and his fear at work and Bildner manages to convey that so well when writing about Silas. I was a little disappointed in Zoey, that she would turn on her best friend so easily instead of asking why he did what his did. 

As a baseball story, I was completely lost. I thought I understood the game, but apparently not. Did that spoil the novel for me? No one bit. So do not avoid this book if you, too, aren't baseball savvy. The baseball parts give the story depth and genuineness, and Bildner really knows this sport inside and out. I loved how he cleverly tied together Silas, Glenn Burke and the high five as a prelude to Silas's coming out. I think it's a real hook for young readers. I had certainly never thought about the invention of the high five, even though people still do it all the time (though I think it is slowly being replaced with the Obama fist punch) and enjoyed learning its history.    

This is believed to be a photo of the first high five between
Glenn Burke and Dusty Baker

A High Five for Glenn Burke is an engaging book about friendship, family, loyalty, sportsmanship, and coming out. High five to Phil Bildner for writing a book that needed to be written and read, especially in this day and age. 

This book is recommended for readers age 10+

This book was borrowed from the Brooklyn Public Library

 check out the other Marvelous Middle Grade Monday offerings, now being carried on by Greg at Always in the Middle.

You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! by Jonah Winter, illustrated by Terry Widener

Once, when I was young, I met Willie Mays.  At the time, I had no idea who he was.  But it didn't take my dad long to explain to me the significance of this great baseball player in the world of sports.

As a boy, Willie always wanted to play baseball just like his hero, the legendary Joe DiMaggio.  He practiced hard and became really good at what he did.  The only problem was that major league baseball was a white man's game AND Willie lived in the south where Jim Crow laws were still in effect, both of which limited his opportunties to play ball.

Still, by age 15, Willie was such a good ball player he was asked to play pro ball in the Negro Leagues, Willie spent his summer vacations traveling around the country in a bus with the other league players.  But Willie's talent on a baseball field was being watched by scouts and when the major leagues were finally integrated, the New York Giants signed him on.  The Giants were only an OK teams until they got Willie.

Over time, Willie played baseball just like his hero, Joe DiMaggio and did indeed became a legend - not just for his skills playing baseball but for leading the way for other black players who also aspired to become part of major league baseball and forever changing who could play the game.

You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! is a wonderful biographical picture book for older readers.  Written as a narrative in a voice that reminded me of the ways kids talked in old 1940s movies - snappy, slangy and personal.  At the center of the this book the story of Willie's life and his achievements, but it is also packed with baseball information and statistics on almost all the pages,  lots of it for budding baseball fans and players alike, and just the kinds of things kids like to know about their heroes and what they can do:

Jonah Winter is not stranger to writing about baseball's great players - he also wrote You Never Heard of Sandy Koufax?! about another great player who also changed who plays the game.

The realistic full page illustrations, acrylic on chipboard, done by Terry Widener really capture not only the movement of the game, but also the joy of playing a game he loves.

One word about the cover - fabulous.  It is a lenticular picture, which means that when you move it, you can see the famous Willie Mays at bat hitting the ball. It is somewhat like a hologram and will definitely please young readers (and older ones, for that matter).

You Never Heard of Willie Mays?! is an exciting, informative book for anyone who loves baseball history, the game and the players.  And even if baseball isn't your thing, it is still a wonderful biography of a great African American who helped to change history.

This book is recommended for readers age 6+
This book was borrowed from the NYPL

Nonfiction Monday is hosted this week by Biblio Links

This is book 6 of my 2012 Nonfiction Picture Book Reading Challenge hosted by Kid Lit Frenzy