Change-Up — Gene Fehler

Baseball season! For a kid who loves the sport, everything about it is important. Pitching, batting, sliding, winning, losing, Grandpa's knuckleballs, superstitious teammates, cheering spectators -- even the infield dust . . . each has a place in the player's life. And all are captured here in Fehler's perceptive, exuberant poetry and Donald Wu's lively illustrations. Readers who play baseball will recognize a kindred spirit in the young narrator whose voice is heard in this book and will share his pleasure in every aspect of the game. Sports fans may even discover that they're poetry fans, too.