SHAKESPEARE MAKES THE PLAYOFFS

For Kevin, baseball is a refuge in which he can lose himself to the intricacies and flow of the game. While on the field, he can briefly put aside his grief over his mother’s death and his conflicted feelings about his father’s decision to see other women. And then there’s his own confusion about his cute girlfriend Mira and his new relationship with Amy, who shares his love of poetry. All of these emotions are laid bare in the poems he writes in the journal he began while recovering from mononucleosis (Shakespeare Bats Cleanup, 2006). He and Amy also text each other in poetry, expressing their feelings and longings with honesty and humor while experimenting with sestina, haiku, sonnets, limericks and more. Kevin and his friends are multilayered characters who are quirky and eccentric but also totally believable. There are no neat endings or miracles. Koertge masterfully leads readers to accept that people—yes, even teenagers—can be individuals, and that baseball and poetry are not necessarily at opposite ends of the spectrum. Well done. (Fiction/poetry. 12 & up)