Fielder's Choice [Paperback]

Rick Norman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 11 and up | Grade Level: 6 and up

Andrew Jackson Fielder wants to pitch in the major leagues. It should seem a distant dream to a kid in Smackover, Arkansas, in 1939. But for Jackson, it comes true, partly due to the afternoons he and his brother spend practicing pitches in a pipeyard down in the south Arkansas oilpatch. Out of the pipeyard comes the famous gooseball, a rising pitch to bumfuzzle the best of batters.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

YA-- Jackson Fielder has a heck of an arm. Everyone in Smackover, Arkansas knows it, and so do the St. Louis Browns. Drafted right out of high school, he tears up the league with his signature pitch, the unhittable gooseball. He's a 19-year-old sensation headed for greatness--until, in the 1941 championship game against the hated Yankees, he walks home the deciding run. Fielder tries to escape the shame by joining the Air Force; after being shot out of a B-52 over Japan, he ends up in a prison camp. Following months of abuse and torture, he is "recruited" by a Japanese admiral, a Yankee fan, who wants his son to pitch like a pro. The boy, a kamikaze pilot, and his determination to throw the gooseball even though he will not live to play another game, put Fielder back in touch with his love for the baseball. During the course of the book, he sees the consequences of poor choices and bad decisions, his own and others. Beneath the baseball and the shuck-and-jive narration is a story about a young man learning to live his own life. YAs will sympathize with his indecision and suffer along through its consequences.
- Phillip Clark, R. E. Lee High School, Springfield, VA
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Andrew Jackson Fielder is a decent pitcher with a great gooseball. He blows his chances in the majors during a pennant race in 1941 when his chronic inability to make decisions costs the St. Louis Browns the game on a balk. When his brother is killed in the South Pacific, Jax enlists. His rescue from a POW camp by a Japanese admiral who admires his pitching leads to a charge of treason. This book is Jax's account, to army investigators, of what he did and did not do. This is less a story of baseball than a story of growing up in difficult times. Jax is a decent, simple man, and his story is both funny and touching. Recommended.
- Marylaine Block, St. Ambrose Univ. Lib., Daven
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 11 and up
  
• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: August House (December 15, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0874832047
• ISBN-13: 978-0874832044
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.5 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,326,424 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Forrest Gump Meets Field of Dreams, December 31, 2002

By 

"plaid_rhino" (el segundo, ca United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fielder's Choice (Paperback)

I purchased Fielder's Choice for my son and to reach the minimum dollar amount on my [Amazon.com] order to get free shipping. Just by chance, I picked it up for a quick browse and to my surprise, didn't put the book down until I finished reading it. This is basiclly a story about about a boy coming of age,growing into manhood, told through the background of baseball and war. Fielder's Choice is a warm hearted story full of both laughs and tears. The main character, Gooseball Fielder is the persona of Forrest Gump in baseball flannels discovering that life throws the hardest curves .

Rick Norman is a great story teller. He constructed the book in such a fashion, that after finishing it, I needed to check baseball references to see if the story of Gooseball Fielder was true.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the funniest book I've ever read!, March 17, 1999

By 

Eric ([e-mail]) (Ortin' Washington) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fielder's Choice (Paperback)

This is one of my favorite books of all time. Rick Norman's use of comedy and tradegy really set this book apart from others. I would reccomend this book to anyone. I even wrote about it in my column in the local newspaper. I just wish there was a sequel. I think that if you read any book at all, this one will surpass it by far.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This was the greatest book I have ever read., January 25, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Fielder's Choice (Paperback)

This book was just so amazing. When my teacher's read it aloud to the class everyone just sat listening to them anticipating what was going to happen next. When we got done reading it I felt so close to all of the characters and I was disappointed that the book was over because it was so good. I would really like to read another book from Rick Norman and I hope it is as good as Fielder's Choice