Joe Stoshack has a unique ability. Just by holding an old baseball card, he will travel back to the player's time and place. He has already visited many baseball greats, such as Honus Wagner, Jackie Robinson and Babe Ruth. Stosh is up to his old tricks. Despite his mother's request that he go on no more baseball card trips, he is determined to travel back in time to find out if Abner Doubleday really did invent baseball. The only problem is that there is no baseball card depicting Doubleday. Stosh sends away for a photograph, hoping that will work. When the photograph arrives, his mother sees it, realizes what Stosh is up to, and insists on going with him. They find they have gotten more than they bargained for, when they land on the Gettysburg battlefield. Scenes from the battle and the army hospitals are graphically described, as Stosh learns that there is nothing romantic about war, and his mother's skills as a nurse are called upon. As it turns out, Abner Doubleday was a Civil War general, who was unfairly blamed for his troops' desertion at Gettysburg. He is very impressed by Stosh's mother's 21st century techniques. But, did Abner Doubleday really invent baseball?

Reviewed by: vverscaj

Date read: 9/16/2010

ISBN-10: 0060534435

ISBN-13: 9780060534431

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When Buster sees the ghost of the famous goalie, Jacques Nettoyer, he is shocked. Buster's dream is to be like Nettoyer. Nettoyer claims he is there to help Buster with his skills. If that's true, why does Buster make so many mistakes when he tries to take the ghost's advice? Can Buster ever become the goalie he wants to be? Arthur and the Goalie Ghost is number 5 in the Arthur Good Sports Chapter Book series.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 10/22/2009

ISBN-10: 0316121460

ISBN-13: 9780316121460

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Arthur's third grade class is running a race for charity! Everyone has to run, but no one agrees on how to prepare. Some kids read sports books; some kids do practice runs. Who will win? Arthur and the Race to Read is the first book in the Arthur Good Sports Chapter Book series.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 10/22/2009

ISBN-10: 0316120243

ISBN-13: 9780316120241

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On the Fourth of July, The Aurora County All-Stars baseball team plays its one and only game of the year. This year, a pageant to celebrate the town's birthday is scheduled for the same day and time. All of the team has been signed up by their mothers to be in the pageant. (How could their mothers do that to them?) The director of the pageant is a tiresome girl ('Just call me Finesse.') who broke the elbow last year of House Jackson, star pitcher and team captain. Because he couldn't pitch, House spent the year sitting with and reading to a dying old man, Mean-Man Boyd, who would have a big impact on House's life. House needs to think of some way to end the stand-off if he wants to play ball. Welcome to small-town America where everything and everyone are inter-related and everyone has a story to tell.

Awards nominated: Bluestem Award 2011

Reviewed by: hap

Date read: 6/2/2010

ISBN-10: 0152060685

ISBN-13: 9780152060688

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Joe is fascinated with the legend of how Babe Ruth called his shot before hitting a home run in game three of the 1932 World Series. Could a player be confident enough to be able to predict not only his home run, but also where it would fly? No one knows what really happened that day. Joe wants to find out, but unlike millions of other baseball fans, who have to live with the uncertainty, Joe has the power to travel back through time to see the game. Can Joe solve the mystery, return home safely, and possibly improve his own game in the meantime? Reproductions of photographs from Babe Ruth's life add depth to the descriptions of events, and the book concludes with a note separating the historical fact from fiction.

Reviewed by: emc

Date read: 12/10/2009

ISBN-10: 0380977397

ISBN-13: 9780380977390

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