Skip to main content

The Brooklyn Nine - A Novel in Nine Innings by Alan Gratz

By

J Fiction
299 pages
2009

Nine short stories, each main character an ancestor of the next (that makes nine generations), all with a passionate love of baseball, and all share some interesting part of American history with the reader. Sound good? It is. Baseball historians will love this book - Gratz shows us that there's so much more to the game than our modern version of steroids and hugely inflated paychecks. But even if you're not a baseball enthusiast, you'll enjoy the different historical settings of each member of the Schneider-Flint family.

I expected this to be just a baseball book. I'm surprised I started it, actually. While I do like baseball, I don't want to read a book about baseball. I soon learned, after the first few pages, that baseball is part of the backdrop of these stories. Each character has some conflict to deal with and resolve. Mike, 8th inning, has the most BASEBALL centered story. The time in history plays a more significant role in these story plots than baseball itself. I looked forward to starting each new story, or inning, wondering "OK, who's next and what's going on??"

Some impressive research by the author as well as fine writing. Wouldn't it be nice to see a book about the favorite all-American past time be recognized by the American award for Children's Literature? (That's the Newbery I'm referring to.) Hot dog, anyone?
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Dragon Run

By
Dragon Run by Patrick Matthews Scholastic, 2013.  336 pgs.  Fantasy      Al Pilgrommor is excited for Testing Day, when he will receive his rank, a tattooed number on the back of his neck, and a path forward to his future occupation and life.  He feels confident because his parents were fours on a scale of seven, but he is worried for his friend Wisp who doesn't have much of a chance of scoring above a two at best. But when Al is scored a zero, he not only has no prospects, he may lose his life as the dreaded Cullers are unleashed to kill him and his family to purify the land's bloodlines.  Al's world is ruled by dragons--the lords and supposed creators of humankind--so he thinks that even if he survives, he will have to make his living as a beggar or thief. But when Al sticks up for his Earther friend in front of Magister Ludi, he is drawn into the struggle of a secret organization hoping to destroy the Cullers, and perhaps the dragons them...
1 comment
Read more

Painting for Peace in Ferguson

By
Painting for Peace in Ferguson By Carol Swartout Klein Treehouse Publishing Group, 2015. Nonfiction. When the city of Ferguson was overrun with so much hate and despair that homes and businesses had to be boarded up to protect property, citizens of the community decided to bring a message of hope by painting the boarded windows. Klein’s rhyming text supports the photographs of the hundreds of artists and volunteers and their artwork as they bring the messages of peace, hope, love, and that by being united they can make a difference. A great book to show children how a community rallied to make a positive change and that even a small gesture can make a huge difference. A great discussion opener on how we should treat each other.
Post a Comment
Read more

Review: We're All Gonna Die-Nosaur!

By
We’re All Gonna Die-nosaur! By Kon Tan  New York: Disney Hyperion, 2025. Intermediate. 157 pages.  Pterry (the “p” is silent) pterodactyl is a worry wart. Pterry is worried about flying (he doesn’t how to fly yet), dinosaurs going extinct (he had a scary dream), and how to protect his family (he has a little brother who hasn’t fully hatched from an egg yet). Even though there is a lot of feels for Pterry, this is actually quite a funny book. Pterry tries to learn how to fly with kites as his “training wheels” and his brother who is inside an egg is quite the adventurer.  This is a funny, heart-felt comic-like intermediate fiction book that will be great for many readers. If kids love dinosaurs, this book is for them. If kids like funny graphic novels, this book is for them. If kids want to read something about facing fears and doing things even though they don’t always want to, this book is for them. Plus, even though Pterry does a lot of things on his own, he still has s...
Post a Comment
Read more