The Wide World of Children's Books Part 2

Man Out at First

By Matt Christopher

Illustrated by Ellen Beier

Ages 7 and up

                Turtleneck is a baseball player who gets into some trouble when he isn’t paying full attention during a game.  He gets hit by a ball in the chest and then faints. Turtleneck ends up losing all confidence in himself and has a hard time not just in baseball but in his neighborhood as well.  Turtleneck promised his blind neighbor Mr. Shaw that he would help him fix his broken step, but after the bad play he lost all faith that he would be useful at all.  When Mr. Shaw checks up on Turtleneck and gives him a heart to heart talk, Turtleneck starts to feel better and has more confidence in baseball and life.  This book is well written and has a lot of really good baseball lingo that ball players will be able to identify with