Blastin' the Blues (Sluggers) [Hardcover]

Phil Bildner (Author), Loren Long (Author, Illustrator)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 23, 2010 | Age Level: 8 and up | Series: Sluggers (Book 5)

After jumping off the train to St. Louis, Griffith, Woody, and Dog find their way back to the Travelin’ Nine. Meanwhile, the rest of the team prepares for the next game—but before they can even get warmed up, the game is cancelled. Still fearing they are being followed and even more worried they have a traitor in their midst, the team travels to New Orleans, where the magic of their ball and the music of the city create one memorable game. But like always, trouble is right around the corner and the hits keep on coming for the Payne family and all of the Travelin’ Nine!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

#1 New York Times Best Seller LOREN LONG’s illustrations have received two gold medals from the Society of Illustrators and his first picture book, Angela Johnson’s I Dream of Trains, won the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award for Illustrations and his inspired interpretation of Walt Whitman’s When I Heard Learn’d Astronomer was a Golden Kite Honor. A much sought after editorial artist whose work has appeared in Times, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and Atlantic Monthly, Loren is widely known for the illustrations in Madonna’s #1 New York Times Best Seller Mr. Peabody’s Apples. And Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could. He lives in West Chester, Ohio, with his wife, Tracy, and two young sons, Griffith and Graham.

Phil Bildner is the author of the New York Times bestselling Sluggers! series, the Texas Bluebonnet Award-winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy and its companion, The Shot Heard 'Round the World, both illustrated by C. F. Payne; and Twenty-One Elephants, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. His latest picture book is Turkey Bowl, illustrated by C.F Payne. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

1

Walking the Dark Tracks

on’t say a word,” Woody whispered, his finger pressed to his lips. Griffith nodded once. He could feel his heart beating in his chest. With a trembling hand, he gently stroked the back of Dog’s head. The Chancellor’s thugs stood just yards away, and the faithful hound refused to stop his purrlike growling.

Under the cover of darkness, Griffith, Woody, and Dog huddled together in the thick brush by the side of the tracks. After leaping from the speeding train bound for St. Louis, Woody had used the skills he’d honed fighting in the jungles of Cuba to steer them to this patch of high grass. So long as they remained silent and motionless, they would be safe.

Griffith looked up. Even in the pitch dark, he could make out the shapes of the Chancellor’s thugs. He was able to hear their every word, too.

“We need to get out of these woods,” one said.

“We need to find that baseball,” said a second. “Boss man’s gonna—”

“We’re never going to find it out here!” the third thug cut him off. “I ain’t staying in no woods all night.”

“Boss man’s going to have our necks when he learns we don’t got it.”

“That dumb dog got it.” The first thug kicked at the ground.

Griffith covered his eyes from the spray of pebbles and dirt, while Woody leaned over and shielded Dog.

“I reckon city thugs ain’t the same animal as wilderness thugs,” Woody mouthed. He rubbed Dog’s hind leg, the one he had hurt jumping off the train. “We’re gonna be fine, Griff. Let’s just wait ’em out.”

Griffith nodded. He rubbed the scrape on his elbow, the only injury he had suffered from the leap.

“I ain’t looking for no mutt out here,” the first thug went on. “We’d run into a wolf or a bear wandering these woods.”

“Boss man’s going to be furious we didn’t get the kid.”

“To heck with the kid and that ball!” The first thug kicked the dirt again. “Too late to do anything about either one. Might as well go back now before some creature comes along.”

The Chancellor’s men headed off. In a matter of moments, their voices and footsteps could no longer be heard. Still, Griffith, Woody, and Dog remained in their hiding spot.

“If you ask me,” Woody said softly as the minutes passed, “they’re long gone.” He rubbed the bruise on his cheek. “But I reckon we’re gonna hold our position a little while longer.”

Despite Woody’s assurances, Griffith didn’t believe they were entirely safe. The Chancellor’s men could still be lurking in the woods, preparing to pounce. He tried to tell himself that Dog would’ve been growling if they were, but it didn’t help. And the constant rhythms of the tree frogs and crickets, and the periodic hoot of an owl, also kept him on edge.

He ran his hand through his hair. The Chancellor’s men had tried to kidnap Graham. Griffith had known the Chancellor was capable of anything, but in his worst nightmares, he’d never thought the Chancellor would order his thugs to try to take his little brother. The goons had tried to steal the baseball, too. They’d ripped it away from his sister. The Chancellor had instructed grown men to rough up a young girl.

Griffith slipped his still-trembling hand into his pocket and gripped the baseball. The attack had taken place more than an hour before, but he wondered if he would ever stop shaking.

“I still can’t believe you jumped off that train,” Woody said, as they headed down the tracks.

“I can’t believe you jumped off either,” Griffith replied, flinching as a rabbit or raccoon darted across the rails.

Woody smiled. “I wasn’t about to leave you behind. A soldier never leaves another behind.”

“It wasn’t like I was alone. I had Dog with me.”

Griffith reached down to pat the hound’s head, but the shriek of a bird caused him to recoil again.

Dog drifted over and brushed his snout against Griffith’s pants. As they walked along, the canine favored his left hind paw. At times he raised it off the ground and used only three legs. Griffith wondered if Dog would be able to make it all the way back to Minneapolis.

When they’d started walking a short time ago, Woody had told Griffith and Dog that they would head back to the city. At the time they’d leaped from the train, they couldn’t have traveled more than ten or twenty miles. While it would be a long trek, one that would more than likely take all night, it was the safest course of action, since they had no way of knowing if the next town was five or fifty miles ahead.

“You still worried ’bout them bandits?” Woody asked.

Griffith didn’t answer.

“Well, I ain’t gonna tell Griff Payne not to worry, because I know that won’t do any good.” Woody chuckled. “I reckon we focus on something else. Like that baseball. I’d like to see it.”

Griffith reached into his pocket for the ball and handed it to Woody. Cradling it with both hands, the Travelin’ Nine’s right scout held the sphere to his face and examined it as closely as he could in the darkness.

SCOUT: outfielder. The right fielder was called the “right scout,” the center fielder was called the “center scout,” and the left fielder was called the “left scout.”

“I’ve only held this treasure in these here hands one other time,” Woody said. “And believe it or not, I was walkin’ the tracks just like this.”

“Where was that?”

“Before heading off to Cuba, most of us were stationed in Tampa, Florida.” Woody spoke softly and deliberately. “Thousands and thousands and thousands of soldiers all in one place. We Rough Riders came in from San Antonio, but by the time we arrived, them train tracks was so clogged with freight cars, we had to get out and finish the journey on foot. Walked the tracks like we are now.” Woody tightened his grip on the baseball. “It was durin’ that walk that your pop let me hold this here baseball. The only time he did. And you know what he said to me?”

Griffith shook his head.

“Your pop made me a promise, Griff. Promised me my life. Promised all the Rough Riders our lives. Said we’d all return from Cuba.” Woody lifted a hand from the baseball and raised a finger. “But he said there was one condition. You know what that was?”

“I do,” Griffith replied, smiling.

On many occasions, his father had told him what he’d said to his fellow soldiers before heading off to war. They were the same words he so often said to Griffith and his sister and brother.

“Be together,” Griffith said, gazing up at Woody. “Always.”

Woody ran his fingers over his smile, then placed the baseball back into Griffith’s hand.

“Uncle Owen gave us the baseball the night of the funeral,” said Griffith, slipping the object back in his pocket. “He told us not to tell anyone we had it.”

“I figured that’s when y’all got it,” Woody said, nodding. “But some of the others didn’t think it showed up till Louisville or Chicago and—”

BARNSTORMERS: team that tours an area playing exhibition games for moneymaking entertainment.

“Wait,” Griffith interrupted. “All the barnstormers knew we had the baseball?”

“’Course we knew!” Woody laughed. “We’ve known for some time. But we was all too amazed at how well you kids could keep a secret to say anything. A seven-year-old boy, a nine-year-old girl, and an eleven-year-old boy all kept their mouths shut.” Woody laughed again. “Now, that’s magic!”

Griffith thought back to the exchange he’d had with Happy in the dugout during the game in Minneapolis. Happy knew about their baseball; he’d made that perfectly clear. But what Griffith hadn’t realized was that all the Rough Riders knew about it too. There was no need for secrecy when it came to the baseball (especially after what had just taken place on the train), and for the first time since the attack, Griffith felt a hint of relief.

He looked ahead and squinted his eyes. They had to have been walking for at least a couple of hours now, but the faint glow of lights from the city still didn’t appear to be getting any closer.

“I reckon there’s a bigger secret we need to deal with on this team,” said Woody. “Scribe and I have been talking about it, and we’re concerned that—”

“There’s a mole on the Travelin’ Nine,” Griffith interrupted again.

Woody stopped. A wooden railroad tie cracked underfoot. “How do you know?”

Griffith could see the anguish on the Rough Rider’s face.

“It’s the only thing that makes sense,” Griffith answered. “Ruby thinks so too.” He swallowed. “And that’s what the old man told us.”

“The one you spoke about in the dugout?”

Griffith nodded. “We didn’t want to believe it, but once the old man said what we were thinking, we couldn’t deny it. It hurts so much to…” His words trailed off.

“It sure does,” Woody said. “I reckon it’s a hurt like I’ve never experienced. Never.” He started walking again. “On the one hand, I’m so angry I want to grab this man by the throat. But at the same time, we’re talking about one...

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Hardcover: 448 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers (February 23, 2010)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1416918671
• ISBN-13: 978-1416918677
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.6 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,256,063 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Has the same charm and passion as the previous installments, June 14, 2010

By 

KidsReads (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Blastin' the Blues (Sluggers) (Hardcover)

As the Payne children and the Travelin' Nine ride the rails to St. Louis, the Chancellor's thugs try to kidnap Graham and steal the magic baseball. Graham remains safe after the scuffle, but Griffith (Griff), Woody and Dog jump from the train to recover the special baseball.

During their separation from the team, Woody tells Griff about his experience with Colonel Teddy Roosevelt, what happened on San Juan Hill and the Rough Riders' solemn promise to "Be together, always." While Woody, Griff and Dog elude the Chancellor's goon squad, Griff also learns about his father's heroics in Cuba, how Uncle Owen got injured and how the magic baseball got the hole in its center.

As the Paynes seek to reunite with the rest of the team, they are followed by someone with a special connection and a grave warning to the Chancellor. While providing them nourishment, the mystery man reveals his identity and explains why the Chancellor is so desperate to possess the baseball and control Graham. By the time the trio arrives in St. Louis to rejoin the rest of the team, Griff has a better understanding about the magic baseball and events in the past --- and Dog has a new name.

In St. Louis, the team meets baseball pitching great Denton True "Cy" Young, who is called Cy because his fastball resembles a cyclone. During their brief stay in the Missouri town, Ruby is intent on identifying the mole, while the team continues to try and earn money to repay the mounting debt owed to the Chancellor. After leaving St. Louis, the team treks south on a steamboat down the Mississippi River to New Orleans. In the "Big Easy," the stakes of the game grow higher, but the payoff could erase the massive debt owed to the Chancellor. However, the Chancellor isn't going down without a fight. The evil mastermind fights dirty and plays to win.

BLASTIN' THE BLUES, the meatiest book in the Sluggers series, has the same charm and passion as the previous installments. Old-school baseball terms are explained, and historic events are woven seamlessly into the plot. Except for a few passages of dialogue that slip into contemporary usage, it has a familiar, old-fashioned feel. One word of caution: the book ends on a sad note. Younger readers might find the final illustration and a scene in the last chapter upsetting. Nevertheless, BLASTIN' THE BLUES should hit a home run with preteen readers who love mysteries with supernatural overtones or who are passionate about America's favorite pastime.