2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An old-time baseball story, must-read adventure, July 26, 2009
Published as Barnstormers: Game 1, Magic in the Outfield (Sluggers) is an old-time baseball story that is a must-read adventure.
The story begins as Griffith, Graham, and Ruby have just attended their father's funeral, and the siblings are left with many questions.
"Mother said we're going to be barnstormers. What does that mean?" Ruby asks. Uncle Owen explains that barnstorming is when folks travel around the country presenting plays, giving lectures, or performing exhibitions like dancing, tightrope walking, or baseball.
Turns out, barnstormers can make a lot of money which is why the kids must join their mother and their father's wartime traveling baseball team, The Travelin' Nine, on a tour of America. No one will tell the kids why the team needs money so badly. Their only clue is a baseball with a hole the size of an acorn in it that their Uncle Owen gives to them the night of their father's funeral. They know very little about its significance except that their father made it with his own two hands and carried it with him throughout the war.
Uncle Owen not only entrusts them with the ball, but lets them know that great danger lies ahead and they need to be together, always.
In this first book in the series, the Travelin' Nine head to Cincinnati to take on the local team. As the game progresses,the kids learn that when all three of them hold the ball, strange things happen. What would you think if a massive locomotive came thundering in the outfield during a baseball game? To make it even more mysterious, only the Travelin' Nine and the kids are the ones to witness the marvel.
Since this is the first book in the series, many questions are left unanswered that make you want to pick up Sluggers 2. The story ends with the siblings and the team questioning the strange occurrences and preparing to board a steamboat that will take them to Louisville for their next game.
What I love about this book is the mystery involved. It's enough to keep you satisfied, but also enough to make you want to read on. You get a feel for old-time baseball with baseball lingo defined in the margins, and you're pulled into a magical world where strange things are abound. Loren Long's illustrations are absolutely amazing and add to the allure and mystery. It's a book that will appeal to any baseball lover, but also those interested in mystery and fantasy.
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4.0 out of 5 stars
Good book for baseball loving kids above the age of 7, January 2, 2012
My 6 year old son loves baseball and before the holiday season asked for a gift that met the following criteria:
* about baseball
* has chapters
* has magic
* is scary
Yes - he really did ask for that, I'm not kidding.
This set of books met these criteria so I bought the first 4 in the series for him as a gift. I've read him the first 2 books so far and they both had some great things going for them which combined to make you feel like you were truly in another time and place:
* great black and white artwork
* use of colorful, old-time baseball language
* colorful, memorable characters
However, this first book ended in a way that felt like it was half way through a book - a book without a conclusion. The combination of this book and Horsin' Around (book 2) would have made for a much better, more complete book, as it clued you in more as to what was actually going on with the story. More importantly, it had a satisfying conclusion (though strong hints of more to come).
My son agreed with me but for different reasons. In both books, he totally loved the old-time language like "daisy cutters" and "pill" and "hurler," etc. He thought both books were good but in the second, the baseball game is far more exciting. He also didn't think the books were all that scary and it took explaining from me for him to understand subtleties like why it's scary to have very rich person aligned against you or in book 2 how gambling and debts can get you into trouble. I think these books are aimed at kids who are a couple years older - though my son totally loves all the baseball parts. It will be nice for him to read these again in a year or two when he's able to easily read books on his own.
In conclusion, I think this series is great for the kid that loves baseball and likes reading series, including my own son. However, just understand that you'll be left unsatisfied if you simply read this as a stand-alone book. You'll need at a minimum to read the first 2 books, and more likely than not you'll want to keep going after book 2 as well.
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