Finally, Chicago baseball is back, and fans have something to cheer for! If you can’t make it in person, one of these books will surely take you out to the ballgame. (Hotdogs not included.)
|
|
Zombie Baseball Beatdown by Paolo Bacigalupi The apocalypse begins on the day Rabi, Miguel, and Joe are practicing baseball near their town's local meatpacking plant and nearly get knocked out by a really big stink. Little do they know the plant's toxic cattle feed is turning cows into flesh-craving monsters...ZOMBIES!!! The boys decide to launch a stealth investigation into the plant's dangerous practices. Rabi and his friends will have to grab their bats to protect themselves (and a few of their enemies) if they want to stay alive...and maybe even save the world. |
|
|
Who Got Game? Baseball: Amazing But True Stories by Derrick Barnes The author of this nonfiction book shines a spotlight on 45 fascinating baseball records, personalities, and anecdotes rarely mentioned in popular baseball lore. Like John “Bud” Fowler, William Edward White, Moses Fleetwood Walker, and Weldy Walker—four African Americans who integrated white teams decades before Jackie Robinson. Or Jackie Mitchell, the 17-year-old girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig. Tons of fun for baseball fans. |
 |
Jeremiah is the world’s biggest baseball fan. He really loves baseball and he knows just about everything there is to know about his favorite sport. So when he’s told he can’t play baseball following an operation on his heart, Jeremiah decides he’ll do the next best thing and become a coach. Hillcrest, where Jeremiah and his father Walt have just moved, is a town known for its championship baseball team. But Jeremiah finds the town caught up in a scandal and about ready to give up on baseball. It’s up to Jeremiah and his can-do spirit to get the town – and the team – back in the game. |
 |
The Rhino in Right Field by Stacy DeKeyser It's 1948, Milwaukee, and all Nick Spirakis wants to do is play baseball, even if it means risking a run-in with a rhino, since he and his friends share a field with the city’s zoo! When the new owner of the city's minor league team, the Mudpuppies, announces a contest to crown one lucky boy Mudpuppy For a Day, Nick is ecstatic at the chance to play some real ball in a real stadium. It will take some practice, and maybe a little scheming around his parents, to make it to the competition. |
 |
Get a Grip, Vivy Cohen! by Sarah Kapit Vivy Cohen wants to play baseball. Ever since her hero, Major League star pitcher VJ Capello, taught her how to throw a knuckleball at a family fun day for kids with autism, she's been perfecting her pitch. And now she knows she's ready to play on a real team. When her social skills teacher makes her write a letter to someone she knows, she writes to VJ and tells him everything about how much she wants to pitch, and how her mom says she can't because she's a girl and because she has autism. And then two amazing things happen: Vivy meets a Little League coach who invites her to join his team, the Flying Squirrels. And VJ starts writing back. |
 |
Out of Left Field by Ellen Klages Meet Katy C. Gordon, or just "Gordon" while she's playing ball. Even in 1957, the neighborhood boys don't care that she's a girl; with a pitch like that they wouldn't care if she was a zebra. She's good enough to pass try-outs and make it into Little League. But when the people in charge find out that "Casey" is a girl with hair tucked into a cap, they insist she's ineligible. Katy is determined to prove them wrong and learns all about the amazing history of women’s baseball in the process. |
 |
A Long Pitch Home by Natalie Dias Lorenzi Ten-year-old Bilal liked his life back home in Pakistan. He was a star on his cricket team. But when his father suddenly sends the family to live with their aunt and uncle in America, nothing is familiar. While Bilal tries to keep up with his cousin Jalaal by joining a baseball league and practicing his English, he wonders when his father will join the family in Virginia. Maybe if Bilal can prove himself on the pitcher’s mound, his father will make it to see him play. But playing baseball means navigating relationships with the guys, and with Jordan, the only girl on the team—the player no one but Bilal wants to be friends with. |
 |
Gabby Garcia’s Ultimate Playbook by Iva-Marie Palmer If life were a baseball game, all-star pitcher Gabby Garcia would be having her Best. Season. EVER! Until she’s suddenly sent to another school and her winning streak is about to disappear—both on and off the field. But Gabby never gives up! She has a PLAN to keep her champion status intact, and every step is written out—PLAY by PLAY. How could it not work? Really fun story with illustrations throughout. |
 |
How Oscar Indigo Broke the Universe (And Put it Back Together Again) by David Teague Oscar Indigo has never been good at baseball, so naturally he’s nervous when he has to fill in for his team’s injured All-Star, Lourdes. Luckily, Oscar has a mysterious gold watch that can stop time, which he uses to fake a game-winning home run. Now Oscar’s the underdog hero of his town and even Lourdes wants to be his friend. But the universe is a precarious place, and you can’t just steal time without any consequences. If Oscar doesn’t find a way to return the time he stole, the universe will unwind completely. A really funny baseball book with a sci-fi twist! |
Looking for some personalized selections? Fill out this form and you’ll receive a customized list direct to your inbox!
Youth Services Librarian Allison