From School Library Journal
Grade 4-6. Left-handed pitcher Sandy Koufax is a baseball legend partly because of his blazing fastball and pinpoint accuracy and partly because he refused to pitch in a World Series game that was scheduled on Yom Kippur. In this involving sports story, fifth-grader Danny, too, is a left-handed pitcher with a good fastball, and he knows all about Koufax. But that doesn't help him with his dilemma when his team's opening game coincides with the first night of Passover. Danny's parents are divorced, and his mother insists that he attend a family seder, which he strongly resists. In resolving the conflict, Danny relies less on Koufax's model than on the unusually understanding adults in his life. After missing the game, the boy goes on to become a star pitcher who eventually helps his team win the league's championship game. Schnur avoids other possible conflicts, and his adult characters are probably more empathetic and supportive than those in the lives of many readers, but Danny is a winning character who is appealing, even in his childish obstinacy. In addition, the baseball action should satisfy fans of the game.?Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Gr. 4^-6. With his mom serious about a new man, and his father and stepmother getting ready for a new baby, Danny thinks the only steady thing in his life is baseball. Unfortunately, this year's season opener falls on the first night of Passover, and Danny's mother refuses to let him play. What seems a relatively small thing suddenly snowballs into a series of events that really have less to do with baseball or religion than with Danny's worries about where he fits in with the grown-ups in his life. Danny's whining gets a bit tiresome, and his concerns sort themselves out with surprisingly little drama. But Danny's responses ring true: overdramatic and sometimes illogical, they are right on target, and they give readers a clear sense of what it really means to "cut off your nose to spite your face."
Stephanie Zvirin
