Customer Reviews

Keeping Score

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This heartfelt, endearing, nostalgic and educational tale is set in Brooklyn, New York in July 1951. The main character is Maggie Fortini who is nine going on ten years-old. She is known to everyone as Maggie-o and her older brother is known as Joey-Mick, both being named after their Father's favorite New York Yankee Joe DiMaggio. But here's the "rub": Maggie-o, Joey-Mick, and their Mom, absolutely love and "live-and die" with the Brooklyn Dodgers! "DEM BUMS" as all Brooklyn fans affectionately called their beloved Dodgers, were the center of their lives. Their entire neighborhood regardless of race, creed, color, or sex, shared their mutual love of the Dodgers in the same manner as "O-positive" blood was a universal donor in an emergency room. Whenever there was a Dodger game being played, the radio in Maggie-o's house was always turned on with Red Barber (and later on Vince Scully) providing the play by play with such favorite phrases as: "a can of corn" for an easy pop fly, and "sitting in the catbird's seat" when "DEM BUMS" had a good lead. It was an unspoken rule in the house that if Mr. Fortini wanted to listen to a big Yankee game he had to go somewhere else. If Maggie-o had to leave the house to go to school, or go to the store, or go to the firehouse, while a game was on, she never missed a pitch as long as she was in the neighborhood. Every house and every store she passed had the Dodger game on and it was like stereo coming from all the windows.

Maggie-o's Father had been a fireman until he suffered a bad leg injury fighting a fire. Now he worked in an administrative position at another location. His old firehouse was just down the block and Maggie-o spent countless hours there with the firemen and their dog Chalky. During baseball season the men would sit outside and listen to the Dodger games and Maggie-o would always join them when she wasn't in school. There was nothing but Dodger fans at the firehouse until one day there was a new recruit named Jim Maine who was a Giant fan. The other firemen wouldn't let Jim listen to the Giant games loud, so at times he would lay on the floor next to his radio. Maggie-o befriended Jim or it could just have easily been the other way around, and before you knew it, Jim was teaching Maggie-o the official way to keep play-by-play score of a baseball game. Maggie-o started keeping "official" scorecards of every inning of every game when she wasn't in school. Jim even taught her how to keep track of every ball and every strike, even differentiating between called strikes and swinging strikes.

This was the point in time of the Korean War/Conflict, and bad news hit the firehouse when Jim received his draft notice and had to report for active duty. Maggie-o immediately started writing letters, even before his ship crossed the ocean to Korea. Jim started writing back for awhile, and then all of a sudden he stopped. Maggie-o was distraught and couldn't find out why Jim had stopped writing. She then put as much effort into learning everything about the Korean Conflict (It hadn't been officially classified as a war yet) as she did into learning how to keep official score. I must admit I learned things about the Korean War that I didn't know based on Maggie-o's maps and footnotes. During this gloomy time in Maggie-o's life, she became extra diligent in her scorekeeping in honor of Jim. She even prayed harder, and without giving away a major part of the story, I'll suffice to say that she even convinced herself to commit the biggest sin in Brooklyn, by secretly rooting one year for the HATED Giants to win, because she hoped and prayed that would help Jim.

According to the promotional information regarding the release of this book, it is supposedly geared for children aged 9-12 years old. I am a Grandfather, who is originally from Brooklyn, and my entire family was born with the Dodger's as the very blood that pumped through our veins, and this story is so realistic in every way. The pedestal that Jackie Robinson, Duke Snider, Gil Hodges, Pee Wee Reese, Roy Campanella, Carl Furillo and Maggie-o's Mother's favorite pitcher that "fine young Mr. Labine", and the other bums were put on, was portrayed as true as life! I actually had tears come down my face a number of times. Some of the tears were because I got to go back and relive some of my fondest childhood memories by living through Maggie-o's beautiful Brooklyn Dodger loving eyes. My parents are long gone, but this story brought my families most cherished times to life again in my heart because of this author's beautiful (And for my family accurate) story telling. Other tears were because of the many sorrow's that are an awful by product of war. This is a wonderful, wonderful, book that would make a great "Hallmark Hall Of Fame" type movie that would be enjoyed by entire generations of a family.

As far as my tears; Maggie-o said it best on page 179: "MAGGIE BLINKED SEVERAL TIMES, HARD. THERE WASN'T ANY WAY TO STOP TEARS FROM FILLING YOUR EYES ONCE THEY HAD DECIDED TO DO IT. YOU COULD BLINK THEM AWAY, BUT ONLY AFTER THEY WERE ALREADY THERE."

For the first half of this book, I thought the title referred specifically to the protagonist, Maggie, learning how to score a baseball game. It's 1951, Maggie is a huge Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and baseball is central to her life. She learns how to score a game when her dad's firehouse colleague teaches her.

I admit I find it frustrating that Maggie has no real desire to learn to play baseball herself. There is a brief mention of the strides that women had made with the game, including the women's league that existed during World War II, but Maggie is content to be a fan. Not that there is anything wrong with fandom, but it is energy that seems misplaced in a story about a spunky, outgoing, full-of-life girl with baseball on the brain.

The conflict finally arises when Jim, the fireman who took Maggie under his wing and taught her how to score, is drafted to Korea. At first, Maggie and Jim write letters back and forth. Then Jim's letters stop coming. Maggie is hurt and confused that her friend no longer seems to appreciate her letters.

When Maggie's father finally breaks the news that the reason Jim hasn't written is because he is at home in a catatonic state after witnessing something very bad in Korea, Maggie begins brainstorming ways that she can help make Jim "better."

First, she keeps score of his team, the New York Giants, who are rivals of her beloved Brooklyn. Then she tries prayer, also to no avail. Then she comes up with an idea that is so precious and selfless that I won't spoil it by recounting it here. But I will say that the idea is the heart of the book, and it's a shame that it took half of the story to get there.

KEEPING SCORE starts out as a story about a girl learning to score a baseball game. By the time it ends, Maggie finds herself keeping score of her own efforts to help her friend. While the adults around her realize that there is nothing she can do to help Jim, and that his illness isn't her fault, this lesson never really hits home for Maggie. She continues to accept responsibility for Jim's struggle. However, though misguided as Maggie may be at times, she is also selfless, kind, and caring. She is a dutiful daughter who not only respects her parents, but has a real affection for them. She certainly has at her core the idea that it is better to help others than to help yourself.

The story weaves in some interesting facts and information about the Korean War that will help kids better understand a time in our history. It definitely will lead readers to contract baseball fever. And, it ends with some helpful websites that readers can visit to learn to score baseball games on their own.

Reviewed by: Marie Robinson

Keeping Score is the very best kind of historical novel - one that first introduces kids to funny, dynamic characters they'll love and then brings in historical elements that are so much more meaningful as they affect the lives of those characters.

Ten-year-old Maggie Fortini loves the Brooklyn Dodgers. Loves them with a big, fat capital L. When Jim, a pal at her dad's firehouse, teaches her how to keep score, she finds a way to be an even better fan and believes she's helping the team when she keeps track of every play. But as Maggie cheers the Dodgers in the early 1950s, the Korean conflict rages overseas. The war that isn't called a war comes crashing into Maggie's life.

Knowing Park's work, knowing that she's a Newbery Medalist, I expected this book to be fantastic. Still, there were some passages that took my breath away, some that made me cry, and some that made me feel like I'm missing out on something spiritual because I'm not much of a baseball fan. Readers will feel like they've moved right into 1950s Brooklyn.

Keeping Score does for the Korean War what Gary Schmidt's The Wednesday Wars does for Vietnam - contextualizes it through a funny, poignant story of life on the home front, told from a young person's point of view.

This is a perfect book for baseball fans,but you don't have to be a baseball fan to love this one. Like so many great kids' books, baseball may be the hook, but there's so much more here.

Keeping Score is full of colorful characters, like George at the firehouse, who shares his roast beef sandwiches with Maggie, her dad, who worries about crowd control, and her mom, who prays for the Dodgers while she knits. It's about baseball, but it's also about family and friends and war. Most, though, Keeping Score is about holding on to hope - something that old-time Dodgers fans knew all about.

Maggie--an avid Brooklyn Dodgers fan--befriends her father's firehouse pals. When a new firefighter, Jim, comes on the scene, she's doesn't immediately find him sympathetic. After all, he routes for the Giants. But when he sees her interest, Jim teaches Maggie the intricacies of keeping an official score for baseball games. Maggie becomes an expert and even contemplates doing it professionally. Some of the other reviewers have objected to the notion that Maggie doesn't play ball herself, but I had the opposite feeling about the book. Just because you can do something doesn't mean you have to if you don't want to. Maggie knows she could play, but she enjoys listening to games on the radio and keeping score more.

Jim is eventually drafted to fight in the Korean Conflict. Maggie sends CARE packages and letters, but when she stops receiving replies, she grows concerned about Jim's welfare. Eventually, he returns under tragic circumstances. Maggie decides to try to use their shared love for baseball to return Jim to health.

I generally like books by Linda Sue Park, but the first half of this story didn't fully engage me. The number-crunching and baseball stats just didn't appeal to me (although they might appeal to others). The characters, setting, etc. seemed to lack a certain something I couldn't put my finger on, but which made everything a little blah. Maggie herself didn't seem to be the age we are told she is at the beginning of the story. However, once Jim ships out, the book picks up. Maggie grows up a lot during the events that follow, and we can identify with her struggles.

The most notable part of the book is when Ms. Park addresses the notion of prayer and its efficacy. She does this with great delicacy. Maggie has been brought up as a Roman Catholic. She uses prayer at first as an outgrowth of her childlike "magical thinking:" if she simply prays for something hard enough, she'll get what she wants out of G-d (usually what she wants if for her beloved Dodgers to win). Later, she prays for Jim to heal, and even tries to make deals with G-d to reach her aims.

However, as she matures, Maggie understands that even if G-d exists, and even if He listens to our prayers, His response might not be what we expect. Maggie eventually concludes that even if G-d doesn't do what she asked, the prayers have affected herself positively. Park conveys all this very sophisticated spiritual material in a way that is accessible for older children, and not remotely preachy. Amazingly, she never directly says that G-d exists or that He doesn't, and she never endorses any particular religion over another. It's just a very respectful and psychologically accurate picture of devotion.

The end of the book is very touching, if a little sappy. Despite the slow start, _Keeping Score_ develops into a well-written coming of age story. There is no foul language, but there is a brief third-hand description of wartime violence and also a plot element which introduces PTSD/shell-shock. For those reasons, I would recommend this book for children no younger than nine.

"A Single Shard" is one of my favorite middle grade novels, and I expected to like this book equally as well, especially because of the baseball. I very much like the baseball theme and the setting, and I like the relationship between Maggie and Jim, and how he teachers her a baseball traditional nearly 100 years old: keeping score. I especially like how Maggie helps Jim.

Although I think this is a worth-reading book, I found myself disappointed in a few things, among them the mention of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League in a way that wasn't realistic. The AAGPBL was concentrated in eight Midwestern cities and was, in fact, dying out or gone at the time of this novel. It is highly unlikely that Maggie or her family would have known about the AAGPBL, especially in such a casual "it's a fact" way. If you haven't read anything by Linda Sue Park yet, read "A Single Shard" first. Then read "Keeping Score."

With overtones of `In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson', Park's story focuses on the Brooklyn Dodgers of the early 1950s with the main character, Maggie, among their most ardent fans. Maggie spends considerable time with the firemen at the local firehouse where her father once worked. She sits with the firemen and Charcoal, the firehouse Labrador, and listens fervently to the games on the radio. A new fireman, Jim, a (gasp!) Giants' fan, teaches Maggie how to keep score, which Maggie does with religious, but somewhat futile, conviction for her Dodgers after learning with Jim and the Giants' games. Then, Jim goes to Korea to serve. He replies to Maggie's regular letters for a while, then... nothing.... Description stops here to avoid spoilers. Maggie, with her youthful enthusiasm, energy, and good will is an enjoyable character. Her supporting characters, her best friend, her family, and the firemen mostly, are warm additions to her world, Maggie and the story are endearing and recommended for an intermediate grades student, most especially for a compassionate girl who happens to enjoy baseball.

Like Linda Sue Park (as she says in her afterword), I don't remember learning to score a baseball game, but I know it was one of the many things my parents taught me to do as I was growing up. And like Maggie in this wonderful story, keeping score only added to my love of the game.

Park combines a story of a girl growing up with her love of the Brooklyn Dodgers (although the story ends before she would experience the ultimate disappointment of their move to Los Angeles) with a story about her concern about a friend who is sent to Korea and her growing awareness of the conflict there.

I couldn't give this book 5 stars because it gets a bit sappy near the end. But the rest of the book is well worth it, especially for Dodgers fans!

In Keeping Score, Linda Sue Park again gives us an opportunity to really feel what it was like to be a particular kid in a particular place and time quite different from our own. In Maggie-O's mid-twentieth century New York, the technology was different, but the kids still had problems that today's kids can relate to. Baseball without TV or the Internet -- just imagine! Maggie tunes in to the game by listening to radios through open windows while walking through the neighborhood. She shares the ups and downs of her favorite team with the whole community. Her baseball experience includes no visuals at all except the black-and-white photos in the morning paper. When Maggie-O first lays eyes on that field we are right there with her, seeing what she sees (GREEN!) and feeling what she feels. Her obsession with score keeping, her magical thinking and superstitions are quirky but quite age appropriate, and her growth through disillusionment seems quite genuine. Maggie's experience of the effect of the Korean War on her friend Jim will give today's kids a peak at some of the difficulties facing our own soldiers today. Here's a book that is serious and intelligent, but tremendously engaging. It's a great choice for preteens who like to see how the world looks through someone else's eyes, even if they couldn't care less about baseball. I think this wonderful story also has cross-generational appeal--giving parents a glimpse into the universal experience of tweener angst and giving sixty-somethings a chance to rekindle memories from their younger days. Another home run for Ms. Park!
Janet Gingold
author of Danger, Long Division

Here is a baseball book that appeals to both boys and girls and to kids who may not know a walk from a balk or what team Willie Mays played on.

Willie Mays plays a central role in this novel set in Brooklyn in the early 1950s. He was a New York Giant then and, amazingly, the favorite player of young Maggie Fortini.

Amazing, because Maggie lives, breathes and suffers with her hometown Dodgers, and the Giants are their archrivals (still are, in fact). Maggie's brother Joey-Mick tells her she has to have a Dodger as her favorite. "Besides, it's double-stupid to pick a player from your worst-enemy team."

But her buddy at the firehouse, Jim, is a Giants fan. Jim teaches Maggie to keep score while listening to Giants games during Willie Mays' breakout rookie season. Keeping score makes Maggie feel as if she has some control over the progress and outcome of a baseball game.

She also uses that skill to "keep score" of the Korean war after Jim is drafted and then stops sending letters home to Maggie.

Linda Sue Park does an excellent job implying that Jim is suffering from PTSD, a disorder not recognized in the '50s but familiar to kids who know about veterans from our current wars.

Resourceful as ever, Maggie cooks up a scheme and saves all her money to pull Jim out of his funk and get her family and friends to a Dodgers-Giants game. She isn't entirely successful, but she doesn't strike out either.

Maggie-O is a believable, eminently likable character with a good heart and who knows her game.

[Review originally appeared in the Palo Alto Weekly, 7/9/08]

Of me and my sis -- growing up in the Bronx in the 1950's. I was personality-wise, something like Maggie (but I could not work a scorecard) and Sis was a little like Joey-Mick

Sis was a Brooklyn Dodger Fan-atic. Like Maggie, Sis kept METICULOUS score sheets of their games. For the life of me, I (a YANKEE FAN) tried but could not master that system of keeping score -- but then again I was having WAAAY more fun, going outside and playing baseball like a maniac (I am a GOIL) -- AND one of the big guys who lived across my stoop usta be a New York Yankees Pitcher!!! What a wonderful life for a skinny little kid (me) growing up in the Bronx!!

Sis threw a fit, just like Joey-Mick-- when I named my tiny little kitten (whom I'd gently carry thru the apartment in the palm of my hand) "Pee Wee" -- ("I KNOW You named her after Pee Wee Reese!!!" screamed Sis, indignantly. Well, no I didn't)

Anyway -- these personal memories kept cropping up as I read through Linda Sue Park's excellent book -- And, when I read of Maggie's scrupulous conscience (LOL!)) oh how that reminded me of myself, as I was "fine-tuning" my way thru the world, as a child becoming a teen-ager.

Seems like Maggie was a very thoughtful introspective and tough little kid -- but hey Maggie if you had just picked up a bat and hit a few fungoes to the outfield- I think you woulda gotten hooked.

Linda Sue Parks takes the stuff legends are made of and weaves them into the life of a little girl, Maggie (named after Joe Dimaggio by her dad), an ardent Brookly nDodgers fan.

Women's baseball teams of the 1940's, The Brooklyn Dodger ("Da Bums" as they wuz affectionaly called), the Yankees, the great neighborhoods of Brooklyn (each one a world unto itself) and their equally memorable denizens come to life through Maggie's eyes and experiences.

Sal Maglie, Duke Snider, Raplph Branca, Jackie Robinson -- Say Hey Wille Mays -- those legendary players come back to life in this book, and once again thrill us with their love of the game, and I saw them thru the eyes of a 13 yr old -- me -- in the same way as Maggie would view their heroic exploits.

Linda Sue Parks enthralls the reader with the true stories of the agony and ecstasy of those magic years of the early to mid 50's when the Brooklyn Dodgers came so close to grabbing that GOlden Fleece (winning the World Series), and how this impacted Maggie and her friends at the firehouse who listen spellbound to each Dodger game on the radio (and Mel Barber's mellifluous voice -- how can I ever forget that voice?!!).

The part about the radios tuned into the game thoughout the neighborhood, so Maggie could hear the games, even though she was running errands for her mom and Dad -- is So very true!!! Yes that DID happen -- the play by play from those radios (being played in every mom and pop store) and those cheers echoing down the street was the next best thing to Actually Being There!!! And I (sadly!!!) remember walking past my Bronx neighborhood candy store when Mazeroski hit that home run in 1960.......

Maggie has some tough decisions to make -- she grows up a little more each day as she tries to reach out to a friend who has vanished, even though he is still there in the flesh.

Treecie, her best friend, is a good foil for Maggie - a little more practical and a good stabilizer for Maggie's emotions, I think. The guys at the firehouse are good friends of the family-- her Dad, a former firefighter is Maggie's rock. Maggies Mom has a few surprises up her sleeve, and Maggie's faith in her friend Jim's ability to heal, and her Childlike Novena is very touching.

And the games play on, and the Dodgers win em and lose em. But they don't win the ones they should.....and all of Brooklyn was still waiting.....

The Korean War (which is what we called it back then -- I remember Mom saying in 1953 -- "It's finally over!!!") is brought to life in the Maggie's thoughful tracings of those maps over the years, sobering images of what was, then.

And the finale of this great book is heartwarming -- a one-two punch -- Giants and Dodgers -- and I can still hear those Cheers from those stadiums, and from those little radios in every Mom and Pop shop, from more than 50 years ago.

And BTW - if MAggie had only grabbed one of her brother's bats and hit a few fungoes into the outfield, she WOULD have been hooked on playing baseball-- even my very own Score-card keeping Sister played a few games with me!!