Customer Reviews

Mudville

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's a rare book that makes me want to play baseball. This book really captures everything about the game--the author clearly loves the game, and it infuses every bit of every character. The rivalries, the importance of the game to this sodden town, the cultural and personal heritages caught up with baseball... every page of this book is a mash note to the sport, and I mean that in a good way.

It's not all baseball, though--there's a family story here, brotherhood and parents and general familial relationships to each other. It could be very sappy, but none of the characters are perfect--they're all flawed in their individual ways, giving even the characters with little screen time or deep importance to the plot dimension and earning them sympathy. It would be easy to give some of these characters no redeeming qualities, but Scaletta tempers the bad and/or neglectful behaviors with hints that these parents do love their children--they just can't be good parents, for whatever reason. Their flaws make them human.

This is a sports book that interested me, even though I, the terminally graceless and uncoordinated, have no interest in sports, particularly baseball. I still don't fully understand in words what makes the game so great--but on a gut level, I think I understand it perfectly.

It's About: Roy McGuire, twelve years old, just back from baseball camp, and back into the endlessly dreary town of Moundville- where it rained out a baseball game twenty-two years ago and hasn't stopped since. Most people in Moundville make do. Roy's dad has made good- he had his defining moment during that rained-out game, and ever since, he's been rainproofing houses in waterlogged houses for a living and caring for Roy, while Roy's estranged mother gallivants around the world, sending home the occasional postcard.

When Roy returns from camp to find his father has taken in a foster kid, Sturgis, Roy isn't quite sure what to think. Sturgis likes his dad's bizarre culinary palate, manages to work twice as hard in the rainproofing business as he does, and even turns out to be a better baseball player. And a few days after he arrives in Moundville, the epic rain stops.

The sun shines for the first time in two decades, and Roy- with the help of his friends- set about building a baseball field. And once there's a field- well, it's time to finish that game against Sinister Bend that got rained out all those years ago. The only problem is, Sturgis- Moundville's star pitcher- plans to pitch for the other team.

Populated with a unique cast of characters (including a kid whose only English phrase is Search Me, and thus, becomes known as Google,) Mudville is a story that contains baseball for sure, but it's not about baseball. (And when it is, Scaletta does a brilliant job of illuminating the arcane art of junkballs and line drives, so the unfamiliar reader never feels lost.)

Scaletta mingles the spirit of classic fables and tall tales, local mythology, and baseball legend with a very human story about belonging. Roy is a sensitive, thoughtful protagonist who still isn't above petty jealousy, and Sturgis is a fascinating foil- not exactly an antagonist, but definitely the catalyst.

And it's an especially refreshing novel about boys that isn't hardbound in scatalogical humor (the only gross-outs come in the form of the unusual dinners Roy's dad prepares- spam manicotti, anyone?) that allows its boys to be smart, strong and competitive, without letting them lapse into edgy, feral territory.

There's real affection between the boys and Roy's father, and the boys with each other- and that human connection, set against the backdrop of America's past-time, makes this book feel utterly classic.

Would I Give This Book to a Kid: Absolutely- and not just to boys, or baseball fans. I really think girls will find the friendship between Roy and Sturgis touching, and will enjoy seeing Rita and Shannon playing with the guys, competitively, as valuable members of the team.

Would I Give This Book to an Adult: I would. In fact, I plan to give it to my mother. Her tastes run more toward The Natural than Bull Durham, and I think Mudville hits that spot exactly.

I am ten, and my favorite thing about this book is that it had a good plot and it had suspense. It also had great characters. The setting was amazing. The last 25 pages are the best part of the book because it's the big game. I recommend this book to other readers who like sports. It's kind of like Tim Green's FOOTBALL GENIUS, another book I really liked.

This tale of baseball and family will keep you enthralled from the moment you start. It captures the feelings and actions of young people and it presents a story that you will greatly enjoy. The author rally knows baseball and that is a great bonus for any fan. Highly recommended.

Take is from someone who knows very little about sports, anyone and everyone should take a serious look at Mudville by Kurtis Scaletta. The book is told from a first-person perspective that is endearing and allows us to see the world from an angle that is not totally mired in created disasters. It is a real story friendships formed, families pulling together through hard times and even a not-so-subtle message that just because you like sports doesn't mean you can't like anything else. Hats off to the author for giving families something they can sit around the table and enjoy together: a satisfying read.

I really liked this book, but then, this is a really easy book to like. First of all, it's a baseball book, and many of the elements that make baseball such an enduring, endearing American sport are also at work in Mudville. There's community, tradition, the balance between the individual and the team--and did I mention action and fun?

Scaletta's deep knowledge of both the game and his characters results in dozens of perfect little moments. Roy McGuire is the main character and the narrator, so of course he's the team catcher, the guy who controls the action by involving others. It's a seamless, subtle bit of casting, and just one of many.

The main plot point: the 22-year rain delay(!) is another example. As you're following the story, you find yourself waiting for the clouds to part and the game to start. Scaletta replicates the exact feel--that anxious, electric expectation--of a real rain delay within the book. And, thankfully, he doesn't make us wait *too* long!

In the end, Mudville has a classic feel to it. It's not that it feels like it was written a long time ago. Instead, it feels like a book that will weave its spell just as well a long time from now.

Life is full of defining moments, and baseball is no exception. From Walt Dropo's 15-hit run, to the immortal plays of Tinker to Evers to Chance to learning how to eat a hotdog (mustard and NO KETCHUP!), Mudville breathes new life into baseball legends and tells a great story along the way.

It's all about the percentages. There's a one in a billion chance that it will rain 8,030 consecutive days in a little town in the Dakotas, but with more than a billion towns that have existed on the earth, Moundville is the town that gets drenched. And it's proof-positive of percentages that the rain started just in time to cause a rain-delay in the bottom of the fourth inning of the big game between Sinister Bend and Moundville. It has nothing to do with an old Indian curse or even the long-standing rivalry between the settlers and the natives, at least that's what Roy McGuire would like to think.

So when Roy comes home from baseball camp to find his room invaded by his new foster brother, a descendant of the now-flooded town of Sinister Bend, Roy puts forth a worthy effort to make room in his life for Sturgis. But Sturgis doesn't make himself easy to love or even like. While the boys finally connect with Sturgis playing pitcher to Roy's catcher, there is still the issue of the unfinished game and Sturgis' past standing between them.

Roy McGuire is my new favorite catcher--sorry, A.J. You know I will always love the 2005 White Sox, but I've got to make room in my heart for the up-and-coming players--and Moundville is my new field of dreams. Full of humor, great plays and characters that jump off the pages, Kurtis Scaletta has created a defining moment in baseball literature. And you don't have to be a baseball fan to enjoy the romance of the game and feel a connection to the players that you hope both win and lose the big game.

(And you know this book is good when a White Sox fan gives it five stars even though the Cubs win the Cross Town Classic that Roy watches. Although Scaletta assures me the Cubs did in fact win that game in real life, I'm still not sure this isn't just a fantasy novel.)

I love books where all sorts of little elements are set in place, and then they all come together and everything fits and you just sit back and admire it. For me, Mudville was one of those books. It's got a town where it never stops raining, curses, a dad who can't cook, old rivalries, and lots and lots of baseball. And it all melds together into an engaging and surprisingly (for me) exciting story. I say surprisingly because I personally am not the world's biggest baseball fan. But because of the contagious enthusiasm of the characters, I loved it along with them in MUDVILLE. I am so glad I had the chance to read this book!

The last baseball game in Moundville was over 22 years ago, well before 12-year-old Roy was born. The game against archrival Sinister Bend was never completed because of a twenty-two year rain delay! Then one day, the rain just stops. The sun came out and Moundville was "Mudville" no longer. Roy and his newly adopted brother, Sturgis, decide to restore the old baseball field and just have fun practicing. Soon, other boys and even two girls join them, and a new Moundville team is born. Roy loves being the coach and catcher. Sturgis ends up being quite the pitcher. Team member Rita throws a screwball that nobody can touch, so the team has back up for Sturgis. Rumor has it that there's a new Sinister Bend team, too.

The two teams schedule a game and tension held back for 22 years by the adult populace is ready to burst in anticipation of this rematch.

The big day arrives and both teams are out for blood. Moundville has never won against Sinister Bend because of the anger and supposed curse of a young Dakota boy, Ptan Teca, and his father, Ptan Tanka, or so the legend goes. Ptan Teca was a great athlete way back when and could beat the white colonists at their own game - baseball. Was he the one who "punished" Moundville with the 22 years of rain? What would be next? You will just have to read this fantastic book to see who won the game, to immerse yourself in the game of baseball and the weird weather surrounding Moundville.

I LOVED this book! It made me laugh, cry, guffaw, howl, and be drawn totally into the weird world Author Kurtis Scaletta created and have it feel "normal". Most of all, I "felt" every pitch, catch, fly ball, etc., and remembered all the nuances of living and breathing baseball like I did when I was that age, also! Bravo, Kurtis, for a terrific job well done! Wohoooooooo!

I read this book and thought it was great, but it was my son's reaction that gave me the biggest surprise. My son is not athletic and does not like to read at all. So, I really didn't think he'd enjoy a book about baseball.

Boy was I wrong. He loved this book. He read it in three days which is unprecedented for him. After finishing it he called it "awesome" which is high praise. He also has spent the last two days practicing his pitching in the back yard (pitching technique is described in some detail in the book). This is also unprecedented.

Overall this book has had a profound impact on him. As you might expect, I can't recommend this book highly enough! Obviously we both have enjoyed it!