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The Sluggers Club: A Sports Mystery [Hardcover]

Paul Robert Walker (Author)
3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)


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Book Description

8 and up3 and up
When their equipment starts disappearing, the best hitters from Halbertson’s Flowers Little League team form the Sluggers Club to investigate the mystery. “Walker equips his story with well-drawn characters and nimble, humorous dialogue. Enthusiasm for baseball pervades the book, especially the detailed and energetic game scenes. Baseball fans in particular will find this tale a winner.”--Booklist

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Little League baseball and inexplicable theft form the gist of this enjoyable tale, which is certain to score with sports and mystery buffs. B.J. and his teammates are on an amazing winning streak, thanks to the prowess of Medgar Washington, B.J.'s best friend. Despite Wash's consistent dominance, the 12-year-old attributes his dexterity to the special bat he always uses. When it suddenly disappears, Wash's confidence plummets, as does the team's standing. Gradually, other equipment is reported missing, and B.J., Wash and their fellow player Tony organize the Sluggers Club to investigate the apparent sabotage. Walker ( Bigfoot and Other Legendary Creatures ) exhibits a natural fluency with both his dialogue (peppered with a few mild profanities) and his hero's first-person narrative. Despite a somewhat drawn-out plot and a lengthy, albeit heartwarming, resolution, this author drives in a winner. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 4-6-- Three boys, all members of a Little League team, join forces to solve the strange disappearance of various pieces of baseball equipment. After much sleuthing, interspersed with brief but accurate descriptions of their games, the mystery is solved in an all's-well ending that is sorted out a little too easily. A multiethnic cast is portrayed; one teammate is black, another is Cambodian. One of the characters who plays a significant role is female. While a better read than some recent sports-mystery series such as the "Southside Sluggers" (S. & S.) and "Jack B. Quick, Sports Detective" (Sports Illustrated for Kids), hard-core sports fans will yearn for more game action. The need to develop the mystery aspect of the story and Walker's weak attempt to integrate social issues leave little room for any compelling baseball description. Purchase only if other sports mysteries are popular. --Tom S. Hurlburt, La Crosse Public Library, WI
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

  • Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  • Hardcover: 160 pages
  • Publisher: Harcourt Children's Books; First edition (March 15, 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0152761632
  • ISBN-13: 978-0152761639
  • Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.8 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 12.5 ounces
  • Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,383,066 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Paul Robert Walker has written more than twenty-five books on subjects ranging from the American West and the Italian Renaissance to folklore, baseball, and miracles. His newest adult publication is The Feud That Sparked the Renaissance, the story of four great artists who forged a new art in Quattrocento Florence (William Morrow 2002; pbk 2003). Kirkus Review called the book, "A convincing account of one of the defining moments in art and history," while Library Journal judged that "using an estimable cache of documentary materials...Walker makes a fine circumstantial case for an artistic feud." Alan Prince, former travel editor of the Miami Herald, wrote enthusiastically in BookPage, "His newest work is sure to bring such sheer pleasure to people interested in history, architecture and art that many of them will regard the book itself as a work of art."

Other recent adult titles include The Southwest, which explores 11,000 years of human history amid the rugged landscapes of the American Southwest, Trail of the Wild West, a reexamination of the American frontier, and "Rivers to the Pacific," a photo-illustrated essay for Exploring the Great Rivers of North America (National Geographic 2001, 1997, & 1999).

Walker's newest books for young adult readers are three volumes in the award-winning National Geographic "Remember" series, which documents key events in American history through eyewitness accounts and archival images. Walker's contributions to the series include Remember Little Rock (2009), Remember the Alamo (2007), and Remember Little Bighorn (2006). Remember Little Rock and Remember Little Bighorn both received coveted starred reviews in School Library Journal, while Remember the Alamo received the 2007 June Franklin Naylor Award from the Daughters of the Republic of Texas for the best book for children and young adults on Texas history. Walker's middle-grade and young adult books also have been honored by the American Library Association, the National Council for the Social Studies, the Children's Book Council, the American Folklore Society, and Storytelling World.

Born in Oak Park, Illinois, Walker studied acting at Boston University School of Fine Arts and graduated magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa in Anglo-American literature from Occidental College. He is a member of the Authors Guild, American Mensa, and the NAACP. A former teacher, journalist, and rock musician, Walker lives in Escondido, California.

Contact:
e-mail: readers@prwbooks.com
website: www.prwbooks.com

 

Customer Reviews

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Average Customer Review
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4.0 out of 5 stars A youth sports story with some realistic social problems, December 9, 2008
This review is from: The Sluggers Club: A Sports Mystery (Hardcover)
Tony and his friends play for the Halbertson's Flowers little league team and they are good. They hit well and play very good defense, so they have won the title for the first half of the season. However, when the favorite bat of superstitious Medgar Washington, their best hitter, is stolen he goes into a terrific slump. The slump spreads suspicion and the slump among the teammates and the suspicion extends to players on the other teams. However, when additional equipment from other teams disappears the plot deepens. The players form the sluggers club in order to investigate the mystery.
Their suspicions fall on Crazy Pete, a homeless and alcoholic Vietnam veteran who lives under the bleachers of the stadium. This is an interesting character to include in a youth sports book, although it is an all too unfortunate reality. When the people on their initial list of suspects all prove to be innocent, their suspicions turn to the Black Scorpions, a gang of older Cambodian youths. Their investigations take them across the river to the poorer side of town where they see firsthand how the poor immigrants live.
Finally, they discover the truth; one of their own players was stealing equipment to outfit a group of young Cambodians so that they could also play baseball. This motivates the sluggers to conduct a used equipment drive and has the added benefit of breaking them out of their slump.
This is a sports mystery well set in the modern world. The teams contain players of many ethnic groups and Emily Kravitz is a good stick at the plate. Including the homeless Vietnam veteran and the poor immigrants who want to become Americans add a realistic aspect that could be true in any small city in America.
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3.0 out of 5 stars The Sluggers Club book review, October 5, 2008
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This review is from: The Sluggers Club: A Sports Mystery (Hardcover)
"Hey battah battah battah" chanted the infield. This is a Ganda League baseball game and the Halberston's Flowers were down 3-1 and Wash in the batters box. Wash is the best player the Halberston's Flowers had and he was missing his bat, the bat he can only hit with. Then, after two strikes, he swings again, "Steee-rike three! Yerrr out!" Wash stuck out and let his team, the best team in the Granda League, lose their very first game ever. Then B.J., Tony, and Wash made the Sluggers Club. Was it one of Wash's teammates, Emily Kratvitz who took the bat? Or was it Wash's arch rival, Ed Obermeyer that is the star player on the rival team? Can it be Crazy Pete, a homeless guy, or Mr. Farnsworth, the team manager? Worst of all, can it be the the most dangerous gang ever, the Black Scorpions? Can the Sluggers Club ever find out who took Wash's bat before the season is over? Will Wash be too worried about finding his bat that his team would keep losing every single game? If you ever want to find the answers to these questions, you got to read this book. Two more things you should know before reading this book is that 1,when you stop reading, always stop at a chapter. And 2, the best time to read this book is at night.
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2.0 out of 5 stars The Sluggers Club, April 20, 2000
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This review is from: The Sluggers Club: A Sports Mystery (Hardcover)
The Sluggers Club is an okay book, but I think it is pretty boring. It has an exciting beginning and ending though. Most baseball finds would enjoy it.
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
It was the bottom of the sixth inning and we were down 8-5. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
battah battah, fastball right, baseball equipment, team bats, big knife, batting helmet, own bat, practice ball, suspect number
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Black Scorpions, Emily Kravitz, Granada Little League, Sluggers Club, Nong Den, Little Americans, Crazy Pete, Medgar Washington, Falcon Street, Lions Club, Tony Caldero, Halbertson's Flowers, Roger Pettinger, Hey Nong, Rory Mendoza, Edward Obermeyer
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