From Publishers Weekly
When a motley crew of Little League baseball players acquires a coach "who had a great mind for science but was a total goose-egg when it came to baseball," it looks like the start of another deadbeat season. Things start to look up for the boys when their coach's fast-talking granddaughter Kristy breezes into town and proceeds to pummel the team into shape. Though narrated by the group's thwarted pitcher Corey, each chapter revolves around a single player and outlines Kristy's wacky plan to improve his playing. Whether it is a seaweed diet or a wild publicity scheme to end an older brother's bully tactics, Kristy finds a way to conquer each player's weakness and turns the former losers into champs. With their abundant quirks, the cartoonish characters are an engaging lot. Plenty of sports action, along with Korman's ( Son of Interflux ) trademark snappy dialogue, makes this peppy story an ideal choice for reluctant readers. Baseball fans will be sure to root for this lighthearted romp. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Gr. 4-7. The broad, almost cinematic situational comedy that has become Korman's trademark is fully in place in his newest novel, which uses a baseball backdrop to attract readers. According to Corey Johnson, being Little League leftovers and sporting uniforms with toilet paper logos (their team is sponsored by Feather-Soft Bathroom Tissue) is bad enough without having a bossy
girl managing the team. But that's the deal for the summer when Kristy, Coach Pendergast's 12-year-old granddaughter (decked out in fatigue pants, a New York City T-shirt, and Day-Glo sunglasses), blows into Spooner, Texas, speaking what seems at first to be a foreign language: "Yo . . . 'Tsup? . . . Word . . . You should spend a few days in New York. Reality sandwich, man." It is definitely not love at first sight, but as it turns out, obnoxious Kristy's pushy management style is just what's needed to make a fat second baseman go on a diet, cure a catcher afraid to catch, wake up a fielder who sleeps on the job, and bring the team into the play-offs. With plenty of obvious misguided psychologizing and Three Stooges-style antics, this freewheeling baseball yarn is laugh-out-loud funny from first page to last.
Stephanie Zvirin
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
