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| Perma-Bound Edition ©2018 | -- |
| Paperback ©2018 | -- |
Baseball. Fiction.
Lost and found possessions. Fiction.
Schools. Fiction.
Contests. Fiction.
Brothers and sisters. Fiction.
Twins. Fiction.
Eight-year-old twins Zach and Zoe both love sports, so they're looking forward to Spirit Week, when third-graders compete in races, contests, and a baseball game. For a special show-and-tell session, the students present things that are important to them. Zach brings in the treasured baseball that he caught after his favorite player hit it over the Green Monster at Fenway Park. When the ball goes missing, Zoe turns detective, observing and investigating with Zach's help until the case is solved. This volume leads off the Zach & Zoe Mysteries series, aimed at readers who are moving up to chapter books. A New York Daily News columnist as well as the author of sports fiction for adults, young adults, and middle-grade kids, Lupica writes with clarity and keeps the story moving at a good pace. Occasional grayscale illustrations add visual appeal. While many of the characters and their relationships seem idealized, young readers who enjoy sports and mysteries may find this series a good choice. The second volume, The Half-Court Hero, will be published simultaneously.
Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)Readers will find more sports than mystery in these undemanding chapter-book capers starring eight-year-old twins Zach and Zoe. Writing with a quick pace, Lupica checks the boxes of sportsmanship, gender equity, multiculturalism, and strong family relationships. Filling a need in many libraries, this illustrated series is suited for newly independent readers working toward Lupica's popular middle-school sports novels.
Kirkus ReviewsLupica kicks off a new series starring a pair of 8-year-old twins who solve sports-themed mysteries.Even the pleasures of competing in various events during his school's Spirit Week dim a smidge for Zach Walker when the prized autographed baseball he brings to his third-grade class for show and tell vanishes. Happily, his bookish but equally sports-loving sister, Zoe, is on the case, and by the time of the climactic baseball game at week's end, she has pieced together clues and deductions that lead to the lost treasure—which had not been stolen but batted through an open window by the teacher's cat and stashed in a storage shed by the custodian. In the co-published sequel, The Half-Court Hero, the equally innocuous conundrum hangs on the identity of the mysterious "guardian angel" who is fixing up a run-down playground basketball court. Along with plenty of suspenseful sports action, the author highlights in both tales the values of fair play, teamwork, and doing the "right thing." The Walker family presents white, but in both the narrative and Danger's appropriately bland (if inappropriately static) illustrations, the supporting cast shows some racial and ethnic diversity.Wholesome, uncomplicated fare for the younger Matt Christopher crowd. (Fiction. 7-9)
ALA Booklist (Sun Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2018)
Horn Book (Mon Apr 01 00:00:00 CDT 2019)
Kirkus Reviews
Zach and Zoe Walker were eight, and they were twins. They didn't look exactly alike, but they did think a lot alike. They just didn't always think exactly alike.
Like right now, for instance. They were eating breakfast at the kitchen table before school.
Zach knew his sister was both right andwrong. He did have a lot of signed baseballs, that much was true. Some were gifts from his parents. Some he had gotten signed by professional baseball players. Zach and Zoe's father, Danny, worked as a sports reporter on TV. Often, he would take Zach and Zoe to special events where they got to meet the players face-to-face.
But the ball they were talking about now was different from the others. Zach loved that ball more than the rest, and he was sure Zoe knew it.
The twins loved competing against each other in almost everything. In fact, Zoe even made talking a competition. She seemed to be doing it now.
"It's not just another ball," Zach said. "Youknow it's the ball Will Hanley hit for a homerun--the ball I caught!" It had happened a couple of weeks before. Their parents took Zach and Zoe to a gameat Fenway Park. Zach's favorite player, Will Hanley, was playing. His team only visited Boston once each season. The family all sat inthe Monster Seats at Fenway. The Monster Seatsare on top of the famous wall in left field called the Green Monster. Looking down at the fieldfrom their seats, Zach couldn't believe how small everything looked. It was almost as if they were watching a game in their backyard.
"I know Will Hanley is your favorite baseball player," Zoe said. "And I know why. He's smaller than just about everybody in Major League Baseball. But he plays big, same as you."
"And he's a second baseman, same as me,"Zach added, as he spooned cereal into his mouth.
"But even though he's your favorite player, and even though you caught that home run ball," Zoe said, "it's still just a ball. " She smiled to herself, like she'd just won the argument. Zach glanced over at their mom, who was grinning from across the kitchen.
She pointed to her watch, which meant it was almost time to walk to the corner to catch their
school bus.
"You know what I always tell you," their mom said. "It's not the souvenirs that matter.
It's the memories that go with them."
"But that's the thing," Zach said. "This ball is part of my memory."
Excerpted from The Missing Baseball by Mike Lupica
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
Perfect for fans of Cam Jansen, #1 New York Times bestseller Mike Lupica begins an exciting new chapter-book series, featuring his trademark sports action and heart, and a lovable twin brother-sister duo who solve sports-related mysteries.
There's nothing eight-year-old twins Zach and Zoe Walker love more than playing sports and solving mysteries. And when those two worlds collide . . . well, it doesn't get any better than that. So when a baseball signed by Zach's favorite major league player suddenly goes missing--the search is on! Luckily, amateur sleuths Zach and Zoe are on the case. Can they solve the mystery and find the ball before it's lost for good?
In this first book of the Zach and Zoe Mysteries, bestselling author Mike Lupica begins a series for a new and younger audience, introducing readers to a sports-loving detective duo who can swing for the fences and catch the culprit in one fell swoop. With a recipe equal parts sports and mystery, the Zach and Zoe Mysteries break fresh ground for an author who has been called the greatest sportswriter for kids.