We're getting close, and I thought I had run out of books on my list, but thanks to the comment challenge and author Patricia Weaver, I was reminded of The Brooklyn Nine. I really liked this one and was fascinated by the way author Alan Gratz wove the generations of a German immigrant family through history and nine innings of a baseball game.
While I haven't seen it mentioned on any Newbery prediction lists, this book is definitely worth a read.
On another note, Karen and I are both participating in the comment challenge from MotherReader and speaking for myself, I have truly enjoyed it. I sit down each night with the list here and go through one by one, looking for opportunities to comment and add to the blogger conversation. It's also given me the chance to look at some different blogs that I wasn't aware of. My plan is to keep referring to the list even after the challenge is over on January 28.
While I've not seen it on every mock list, I have seen it on one or two. Alan is a great guy and his book would be enjoyed by boy readers... not sure a girl would like it unless she is into baseball.
ReplyDeleteThat may be true, but it's more than a baseball story. Allan Gratz does a great job of dealing with families, and other issues too.
ReplyDeleteWhat a lovely idea for a blog. This is only the second book, along with Umbrella Summer, of your list that I haven't read.
ReplyDeleteI should thank you for sending me off to find Barbara O'Conner's blog. I now want to be her best friend and buy her coffee.
This was one of the books nominated for Middle Grades fiction in Cybils. My boys at school took one look at it and it hasn't seen my shelves since. A student hands me the book, I put the card in it, they hand it off to another student who fills out the card and hands it back. Haven't seen the book much for over a month now.
ReplyDeleteI think Brooklyn Nine should be on some potential Newbery lists and such, and I'm not sure about how boy-centric. Some of the chapters are about girls and girl baseball players. The only reason it didn't rate higher on my personal list was that I have an antipathy for short stories.
ReplyDeleteBrooklyn Nine is one of my sleeper picks.
ReplyDeleteThe stories weave into each perfectly and you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy it.
Gratz allows the reader to learn so much about this family, and U.S history at the same time.
I'm not big into baseball, but The Brooklyn Nine sounds like an awesome read.
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the comment challenge. :)
I LOVED this book; it was my favorite of all the baseball books that came my way during the fall. I'd be much more than happy if it got a Newbery Honor...
ReplyDeleteI think Alan Gratz wrote Samurai Shortstop, right? This is a great book, too, that teaches a bit about Feudal Japan and the Samurai way. He's a great author! He probably wishes you were on the Newberry Committee, huh? :)
ReplyDeleteMargo
http://margodill.com/blog/
Ooh, just read through your original review and saw there's an inning about a woman playing ball during WWII. I'm a huge fan of the AAGPBL, but haven't seen much fiction about it, so I'm adding this to my list just so I can read that chapter/story/inning!
ReplyDeleteI finally got to read it and absolutely devoured it. I am a baseball fan, so that was the initial attraction, but some of the writing is just so beautiful, and the weaving in of history outside of baseball is so well done that I definitely think there's an audience for this outside of baseball fans. I reviewed it on my blog here
ReplyDelete