Haunting at Home Plate [Hardcover]

David Patneaude (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2000 | Grade Level: 4 and up

Nelson just wants to play baseball and maybe, one day, realize his dream of pitching. Then his manager is suspended and two players leave the team. On top of that, it seems that the park where the team practices may be haunted.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 3-7-After Gannon Conger's father, the coach of the Dodgers, is suspended from the Southshore Little League for unsportsmanlike behavior, Nelson talks his college-aged cousin Mike (short for Michele) into taking over the team. However, the one bad thing about losing abusive Mr. Conger is losing the team's best player and their friend, Gannon, who has been forced by his dad to switch to a new team. Mike tells the Dodgers about Andy Kirk, who, more than 50 years ago, died when he fell out of a giant cedar tree where he sat perched watching his older brother hit in the winning run. Soon cryptic messages initialed AK crop up around the baseball diamond. Whoever is leaving them loves baseball and has some very definite and good advice, and everyone wonders if they've been left by Andy's ghost. It doesn't take long for the team to play like a well-oiled machine and ultimately the Dodgers take on Gannon's team in the championship game. This story is packed with action and suspense. The characters seem real and have a certain depth. Young readers who are interested in baseball and like a good mystery will find this title hard to beat.
Barb Lawler, Carnegie Library of Pittsburgh, PA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Most baseball yarns achieve suspense by recounting the runs, errors, steals, and near-misses of the game. Patneaude's latest includes all of the above, in addition to a ghost who seems to be coaching the teem by leaving messages on the playing field. Twelve-year-old Nelson and his team, the Dodgers, are having a rough season after losing one of their star players and their coach. But the players regroup when Nelson's 19-year-old cousin Mike is recruited as the coach. Mike, who happens to be a female with a no-nonsense approach to the game, pulls the group together. As the team coalesces, Nelson emerges as a powerful pitcher, and the mystery of the messages left on the playing field deepens. Patneaude punches up the story with play-by-plays that rival the commentary of a real-life sports announcer. Fans of baseball and of stories about the paranormal will get their fill from this absorbing novel. Denia Hester
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company (January 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0807531812
• ISBN-13: 978-0807531815
• Product Dimensions: 0.8 x 5.8 x 8.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,739,455 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

David Patneaude finally heeded the advice, "It's never too late to have a happy childhood," and began writing seriously (more or less) in the mid 1980's. His first novel, SOMEONE WAS WATCHING, winner of South Dakota and Utah book awards, was published in 1993. His books have been placed on young readers' lists in more than thirty states and honored by the New York Public Library (THE LAST MAN'S REWARD), the Society of School Librarians International (FRAMED IN FIRE), the Winnetka (Illinois) Public Library's "One Book, Two Villages" program (THIN WOOD WALLS), and the Washington State Public Library (THIN WOOD WALLS). His newest book, EPITAPH ROAD, was published in March 2010. When he's not sitting in a coffee shop writing, or at a school or library or conference talking about writing, or out on the running trail thinking about writing, he's at home in Woodinville, Washington with his wife Judy, a junior high librarian.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A superbly written, attention gripping novel, March 12, 2001

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunting at Home Plate (Hardcover)

The breeze has died. Dead quiet settles on the ballpark. Nothing is happening on the field, where a misty halo hangs around the light. But there's something or someone there. Is a ghost who has been sending messages to the ball team, helping them improve their play and make it to the playoffs? The help is welcome -- but scary in David Patneaude's superbly written, attention gripping novel, Haunting At Home Plate. Also highly recommended for school and community library collections are Patneaude's early novels available from Albert Whitman & Company: Someone Was Watching; The Last Man's Reward; Framed In Fire; and Dark Starry Morning: Stories Of This World And Beyond.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting At Home Plate, December 5, 2004

By 

Mike "Mike" (Florida) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunting at Home Plate (Paperback)

In this story I have some things to point out.The setting was mostly at Phantom Limb Park,which was the place for the Dodgers team's baseball practices and games.Most players did not like playing at Phantom Limb Park becase it was to spooky for them, and they thought there was a ghost living there.In this story the main characters are-Mr.Conger, Andy Kirk, Gannon, Mike Nelson, Nelson's father,and the rest of the Dodgers Little League Baseball team.In this book the theme is baseball,and working together. The conflict is improving the team so they get into the playoffs.When they get through the playoffs and get to the championship,Nelson's father gets to see him play for the first time that year.After they win the championship,Nelson's dad decides to take another job so that he can spend more time with his son.

The character I liked the most in this story would have to be Andy Kirk.He was the ghost writing secret ways of winning to the Dodgers Little League Baseball team.

The most evil and sinister character would have to be Mr.Conger.He worked his son Gannon, and the dodgers team to no end.He would make his son run miles and miles.If he didn't live up to Mr.Conger's expectations, he would have to walk back home.After Mr Conger got kicked off the dodgers team,taking his son with him,there was relief with the new Coach Michelle (AKA Mike)(Nelsons Cousin).

I enjoyed this story "Haunting At Home Plate". It was action packed and a little spooky on every page.This story was very simple to read.People that know about baseball will think this story is great because they can understand it better.At the end of the story it was the most interesting.Nelson,the main character,find one hundred year old coins used by the ghost in this story.(Andy Kirk) Another interesting point in this story is how the ghost writes secret messages to the team in the orange clay near home plate.Andy Kirk gave them tactics on where to place the players on the Dodgers team.Also he gives the team tips on what the upcoming team has,that they don't.

This story did have emotion mainly about Andy Kirk's accident.The legend is told that Andy Kirk had fallen out of a twenty feet high cedar tree,while watching his brother's baseball game at Phantom Limb Park.Andy Kirk still stays in that same stop watching all the baseball games at the park mainly because he loves baseball.On the anniversary of Andy Kirk's death, the Dodgers team honors Andy, standing over the place he died, saying thank you for all of the help he had gave them.

As much as I could I would pick up "Haunting At Home Plate" and read it for a long period of time.Every page in this book is so detailed and makes you want to keep reading it.Overall I would give "Haunting At Home Plate" at ten out of ten.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Haunting At Home Plate, February 13, 2004

By 

pelayath (Cerritos, CA USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Haunting at Home Plate (Paperback)

Title of the Book: Haunting At Home Plate
By:David Patneaude
Reviewed by: P. Elayath
Period: 1

Haunting At Home Plate is a mystery book in which Nelson and his teammates try to find who is sending them helpful hints. Andy Kirk dies because he tripped and fell off the tree. Some years later, Nelson and his teammates have to use the same park with the same tree that caused the death of Andy as a practice diamond. They started getting helpful hints from some person who cares for the team. With those helpful hints, they win the championship. Even though they won, they still wondered who was writing all those messages. If you want to find out who wrote them, then read the book, Haunting At Home Plate.
I liked this book because the author's feelings and experiences make you feel that you are there at the time. One of my favorite quotes were, "I breathe in the moist air and an overpowering sense that I'm really not alone in this place. The sense isn't new, it's been here all along, winking at me, poking me in the ribs." As you can see, this is a very strong quote.
Another quote that also expresses emotion is, "The air hangs cool and still in the park. It's quiet. The houses and stores just outsided the park entrance seem far away. I think of coins, of warm rain in the shadow of trees." This also shows emotion because it describes how Nelson feels inside.
My favorite part in the book was in the prologue . At the end of the prologue was when Andy Kirk died. I like this part because it seemed to foreshadow the events in the future. One event that this death foreshadowed was when Nelson would end up using the exact same park as a playing field. It just interested me. It kept me reading for a long period of time. If you want to read a book that is about secrets, then this is the book for you.