Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure [Paperback]

Dan Gutman (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 10 and up | Grade Level: 5 and up | Series: Baseball Card Adventures

Joe Stoshack lives for baseball. He knows everything there is to know about the game -- except how to play well. His specialty is striking out. Stosh feels like a real loser, and when he takes a low-paying job cleaning a bunch of junk out of his neighbor's attic, he feels even worse -- until he comes across a little piece of cardboard that takes his breath away. His heart is racing. His brain is racing. He can hardly believe his eyes. Stosh has stumbled upon a T-206 Honus Wagner -- the most valuable baseball card in the world! And he's about to find out that it's worth a lot more than money....

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6. An intriguing time-travel novel. While 12-year-old Joe Stoshack is cleaning out Miss Young's attic for spending money, he finds the world's most valuable baseball card, picturing Honus Wagner. Joe wrestles with the thought of telling Miss Young about his discovery and of returning it to her. But she had instructed him to throw out all the junk in the attic, and he knows the money raised from selling the card would help his single mother. That night, Joe wakes up to see Wagner in his bedroom, and they eventually travel back in time to the 1909 World Series. Gutman includes plenty of factual baseball information in this short novel. An appendix helps readers sort out fact from fantasy. Most young baseball-card collectors will have heard about the famous Honus Wagner cards, one of which was sold in 1991 for almost half-a-million dollars, making the premise of the story familiar. Black-and-white photos of Wagner and the series, although sometimes dark or grainy, add authenticity to the book. An enjoyable escape into another decade.?Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 4^-7. Joe Stoshack and his mom aren't rich, so when Joe finds a valuable baseball card in an old lady's attic, he thinks he's got it made. Joe is an avid baseball card collector so he knows that the Honus Wagner card is baseball's rarest find. What he doesn't know is that the card has properties that allow both Joe and Honus Wagner to travel through time. Joe (now rather inexplicably a man) even gets to play in the 1909 World Series. This peppy, pleasing offering is well researched and should delight young baseball fans; even readers not into sports will enjoy the fantasy elements. The inclusion of a few historical photos is a nice touch, too. Since Joe's ability to travel in time comes through his touching certain baseball cards, expect more trips with Joe around long-ago bases. Ilene Cooper --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 10 and up
  
• Paperback: 144 pages
• Publisher: HarperCollins (March 1, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0380788780
• ISBN-13: 978-0380788781
• Product Dimensions: 7.5 x 5.2 x 0.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 3.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (58 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #161,211 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #51 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Authors & Illustrators, A-Z > ( G ) > Gutman, Dan
  • #63 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Sports > Baseball

More About the Author

This is hard. I'm a pretty regular Jersey guy who spent fifteen years trying to write newspaper articles, magazine articles, screenplays, books for adults, and just about everything else before I discovered the one thing I'm good at--writing fiction for kids. I aim for kids who DON'T like to read, and hopefully the kids who DO like to read will enjoy my stuff too. For all the gory details about me, check out my web site.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

36 of 36 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars great fantasy for all baseball lovers old and young, April 6, 2008

By 

Michael R. Chernick "statman31147" (Holland PA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (Paperback)

This is a nice fiction story not as good but up in the ranks with "Field of Dreams." A boys travels back in time to see the greats from the early years of baseball. Great nostalgia and fantasy esoecially if you like stories involving time travel. The cover is the famous rare Honus Wagner card worth more than any other baseball card because of its rarity. The book includes some very interesting non-fiction about how the card came about and why it is so rare.

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Historical Fun!, December 4, 2002

By 

M. Allen Greenbaum (California) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (Paperback)

This is one of the best in the Joe Stoshack series, the boy who travels in time to meet some of baseball's legends. Gutman excels at evoking baseball's early years, when the game was more intimate and perhaps rougher. Gutman really did his research: "People were hanging all over the fence, and there were seats in front [italics] of the fence. The only thing keeping fans away from the playing field was a rope." Gutman also includes some play by play descriptions from the 1909 Series.

Gutman supplements these descriptions with newspaper clipings, great photos (including one of Wagner and Cobb, and what I assume is the Detroit field, "Bennett Park," in 1909), a reproduction of the T-206 Wagner, stats, a 2-page baseball "tips" piece written by Wagner in 1950, and a short section that separates the book's facts from fiction.

There's a minor romantic subplot that seemed a bit contrived, but it's incidental to the main action here. Wagner comes off as an admirable man with a wonderful sense of humor, and Gutman, as usual, shares with us his great affection for the game.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars we love dan gutman's baseball card adventure books!, May 29, 2003

By 

Gae Polisner "The Pull of Gravity, fsg." (Long Island, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure (Paperback)

my 7 1/2 year old son (he's an above-grade reader) has read all five, and loved all of, dan gutman's baseball card books. i had the privilege of listening to one on tape -- this one, honus & me. it is well-told with great morality lessons and interesting historical information. Dan Gutman is the perfect author for baseball loving little boys. We both cant wait for his next.