So who is the greatest pitcher in baseball history? It’s one of the questions that has kept the hot stove league going for as long as baseball has existed. Can you compare pitchers from the Dead Ball era with those who have had to use a livelier ball? Can you compare those who were expected to pitch complete games no matter what the outcome with modern pitchers who can pitch as few as five innings before handing the ball to a reliever? Kisseloff (Who Is Baseball’s Greatest Hitter, not reviewed, etc.) gives no answers; he leaves the arguments to his readers. He even suggests methods for making the final decision. Thirty-three pitchers, spanning over 100 years, are examined in alphabetical order. Basic information regarding places and dates of birth and death, dates of major league career, and final record of wins and losses head each entry, accompanied by a baseball card photograph. Information is presented in a breezy, chatty manner filled with anecdotes, quotes, and, of course, statistics galore. They’re all here: games and innings pitched, strikeouts, wins and losses, winning percentages, awards, and many more. Before moving on the next pitcher, he adds a summary and some pertinent comparisons. There has been some thought to the graphic layout as well. Baseballs surround many of the page numbers and there is a small dot-matrix catcher depicted at the end of each pitcher’s entry. For those searching for more information there is an annotated bibliography. Kisseloff has created a work of impressive scholarship that enlightens and entertains. It is not for the uninitiated, but is definitely aimed at the true baseball fan. Play Ball. (Nonfiction. 10-14)
Pub Date: April 1, 2003
ISBN: 0-8126-2685-0
Page Count: 192
Publisher: N/A
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 15, 2003
Brava!
From award winner Telgemeier (Smile, 2010), a pitch-perfect graphic novel portrayal of a middle school musical, adroitly capturing the drama both on and offstage.
Seventh-grader Callie Marin is over-the-moon to be on stage crew again this year for Eucalyptus Middle School’s production of Moon over Mississippi. Callie's just getting over popular baseball jock and eighth-grader Greg, who crushed her when he left Callie to return to his girlfriend, Bonnie, the stuck-up star of the play. Callie's healing heart is quickly captured by Justin and Jesse Mendocino, the two very cute twins who are working on the play with her. Equally determined to make the best sets possible with a shoestring budget and to get one of the Mendocino boys to notice her, the immensely likable Callie will find this to be an extremely drama-filled experience indeed. The palpably engaging and whip-smart characterization ensures that the charisma and camaraderie run high among those working on the production. When Greg snubs Callie in the halls and misses her reference to Guys and Dolls, one of her friends assuredly tells her, "Don't worry, Cal. We’re the cool kids….He's the dork." With the clear, stylish art, the strongly appealing characters and just the right pinch of drama, this book will undoubtedly make readers stand up and cheer.
Brava! (Graphic fiction. 10-14)Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2012
ISBN: 978-0-545-32698-8
Page Count: 240
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: July 21, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1, 2012
SEEN & HEARD
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish.
The dreary prospect of spending a lifetime making caskets instead of wonderful inventions prompts a young orphan to snatch up his little sister and flee. Where? To the circus, of course.
Fortunately or otherwise, John and 6-year-old Page join up with Boz—sometime human cannonball for the seedy Wandering Wayfarers and a “vertically challenged” trickster with a fantastic gift for sowing chaos. Alas, the budding engineer barely has time to settle in to begin work on an experimental circus wagon powered by chicken poop and dubbed (with questionable forethought) the Autopsy. The hot pursuit of malign and indomitable Great-Aunt Beauregard, the Coggins’ only living relative, forces all three to leave the troupe for further flights and misadventures. Teele spins her adventure around a sturdy protagonist whose love for his little sister is matched only by his fierce desire for something better in life for them both and tucks in an outstanding supporting cast featuring several notably strong-minded, independent women (Page, whose glare “would kill spiders dead,” not least among them). Better yet, in Boz she has created a scene-stealing force of nature, a free spirit who’s never happier than when he’s stirring up mischief. A climactic clutch culminating in a magnificently destructive display of fireworks leaves the Coggin sibs well-positioned for bright futures. (Illustrations not seen.)
A sly, side-splitting hoot from start to finish. (Adventure. 11-13)Pub Date: April 12, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-06-234510-3
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Walden Pond Press/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2015
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
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