Top of the Order
The 4 for 4 Series
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- £8.99
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- £8.99
Publisher Description
Four sports-crazy 5th grade boys deal with family, school, and friendship issues against the backdrop of their baseball season.
Jackson's parents are divorced and his mother has started dating. Gig's dad is in the National Guard and has been called up to serve in the Middle East. Isaac's dad wants him to go to a different middle school than all his friends. Diego is the new kid in school, a power-hitter who works with his family on the weekends and can't make every team practice. These four friends lead different lives, but on the baseball field, they're a strong team, the top of the order. In this crucial last year of elementary school, they're faced with preparing for middle school and dealing with a new member of their team—a girl!
Acclaimed author John Coy takes readers into the hearts and minds of 5th grade boys, with plenty of baseball action that's sure to keep even the most reluctant readers turning the pages.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Coy (Box Out) brings his successful combination of relatable characters and sports action to his middle-grade debut. Jackson Kennedy, the affable fifth-grade narrator, lives for baseball. Playing shortstop for his school team helps take the sting off his troubles at home and school: divorced parents, a newly dating mom and middle-school worries about eighth-graders who "make you drink a Coke so fast, you hurl in the garbage can." Jackson and his team have high hopes for the coming season until Sydney his best friend Gig's sister shows up to play second base (with her pink glove, no less). Jackson mentally wrestles with this as most boys his age would: she's a good player and the team needs her, but she's still a girl. Coy does a good job keeping his story grounded in the concerns that kids this age would have, and his characters such as Gig, the goofball whose dad is about to be shipped to Afghanistan, and G-Man, Jackson's baseball-loving grandpa are appealing and true to life. Young baseball fans will enjoy the infield banter, Gig's corn-dogs-up-the-nose antics and the grand slam ending. Ages 8 12.