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| Perma-Bound Edition ©2019 | -- |
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| Paperback ©2019 | -- |
Baseball. Fiction.
Friendship. Fiction.
Family life. Wisconsin. Fiction.
Immigrants. Fiction.
Greek Americans. Fiction.
Wisconsin. History. 20th century. Fiction.
It's not the first time Nick Spirakis has had to run away from a charging 2,580-pound rhinoceros while playing right field. It's 1948, and his neighborhood pickup game plays daily inside the city zoo. What is new is that the local professional team was just bought, and the new owner is holding a "Mudpuppy for a Day" batboy contest, where the winning boy will wear the official team uniform and join professional players on the field. Every boy in town is entering. When Nick's parents insist he work the day of the contest, Nick feels his rebellious side rear up for the first time. He would do anything to enter . . . but at what price? Inspired by her father's own story, DeKeyser's '40s-era baseball world is accessible, detailed, and charmingly genuine. In addition to being a sweet story, there is nice moral messaging, earnest inclusion of family values, terrific representation of the first-generation Greek-immigrant experience, and even shades of gender equality tucked inside. There's not quite enough conflict for it to be a page-turner, but it's still a solid home run.
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)It-s 1948, and 12-year-old Nick is chafing under his Greek immigrant parents- rule that he work at his father-s shop on Saturdays. Instead, Nick wants to play baseball with his friends, even though their field butts up against the town zoo and fly balls can end up in Tank the rhino-s pen, requiring the boys to hop the fence and outrun Tank to retrieve them. After the town-s minor league baseball team is acquired by a new owner, who announces a contest for the opportunity to be batboy on opening day, Nick longs to enter and is bitterly disappointed to learn that the contest is on a Saturday. But when his arch-nemesis, Pete, taunts him about the contest, Nick is determined to find a way to realize his dream. Dekeyser (
Gr 3-5 Going to Greek school and working at his dad's store are part of 12-year-old Nick Spirakis's routine, but baseball is everything to him. Nick is excited to enter a competition to become "batboy-for-a-day" for the local adult minor league baseball team, the Mudpuppies, but it takes place on a weekend when Nick is supposed to help out in at the store. Complicating matters is Tank the Rhino, the 2,000-pound rhinoceros who lives in the city zoo adjacent to the field where Nick and his friends play ball. Nick is petrified of the creature. In order to enter the contest, Nick will have to lie and manipulate his friends and family. The details about Greek culture enrich the story. DeKeyser skillfully melds historical details of 1948 Milwaukee with fast-paced action and humor, giving readers a window into life in that era. Themes involving parental expectations, friendly competition among peers, and learning to find the right balance between family and social circles make this accessible and relatable. The author's note explains that Nick's story and historical era details are loosely based on DeKeyser's own father's life. VERDICT A recommended purchase for large middle grade collections. Hand to readers looking for historical fiction or baseball tales. Eva Thaler-Sroussi, Needham Free Public Library, MA
Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews
ALA Booklist
Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books
Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
School Library Journal
CHAPTER
1
EVERYTHING STARTED ON the day I had that close call with Tank.
Tank lives two blocks away, so I see him almost every day, but he usually ignores me. This is probably for the best, since Tank is a rhinoceros. A 2,580-pound Diceros bicornis with a seventeen-inch horn, according to the sign on his fence. That fence also happened to be our right-field fence, which is how Tank and I got to know each other on a first-name basis. It was my turn to play right field, and I'll admit it: my mind wandered. If you've ever played baseball, you know what it's like. Because no one ever hits the ball to right field.
Except, of course, when they do.
It doesn't help that I'm a terrible outfielder. To be perfectly honest, I couldn't catch a fly ball to save my life.
So there I was, caught flat-footed when Pete walloped the ball. It sailed over my head and landed with a thunk in a pile of hay on the wrong side of the fence. Tank's side. And there was Tank, snoozing in the shade of a billboard. (CALL KING'S MOTORS AT HOPKINS 5800. YOUR SOURCE FOR GENUINE PACKARD PARTS!)
That was our last baseball. Somebody had to get it back.
And that somebody was the right fielder.
Let me say this right now: the general public does not belong in rhinoceros pens--ever. This fact is so obvious, some genius decided that a stone wall topped with a chest-high chain-link fence would be enough of a reminder. Sure, it's enough to keep a stumpy-legged rhino in. But it's useless at keeping a twelve-year-old kid out. Because here's another obvious thing: Baseballs do not belong in rhinoceros pens either. What if Tank ate the ball? That would end the game in a hurry--or at least postpone it. The truth always comes out in the end (so to speak).
The fellas gave me their usual encouragement.
"What're ya waiting for, Nick?"
"I think he's chicken, that's what I think."
"Some right fielder you are! What, are ya scared of a little ol' rhino?"
I dropped my mitt and sized up the situation: hop the fence, grab the ball, and back to safety. Six seconds, tops.
Or never. Depending on the reflexes of the rhino.
"Yep. He's chicken, all right."
"Bawwwwk, bawk bawk . . ."
I took a deep breath, wound myself up, and . . .
vaulted the fence, up and over ("Atta boy, Nick!")
raced to the hay pile ("Hurry up!")
grabbed the ball (That's not the ball. What is that?)
There's the ball!
SNORT.
"RUN! Don't look back!"
Over the top, and OUT.
Exactly 2,580 pounds of muscle crashed into the wall behind me, leaving a Tank-shaped dent in the stone. (I might be making up that last part. But everything else is true, I swear.)
I somersaulted on the ground. My heart was pounding. My pants were torn. Something smelled really bad.
But I was holding the ball.
"You did it!" said Ace, running out from shortstop.
"Holy moly, we thought you were a goner," hollered Charlie from the pitcher's mound.
Chuck just stood there in left field with his mouth hanging open.
"Look at you, Spirakis." Here came Pete, swaggering out from home plate with the bat on his shoulder. "You might live to finish sixth grade after all. Now grab your mitt and hand over that muddy ball. That was a home run and it's four to three. Still two outs."
I stood up, brushed myself off, and flipped the ball to Pete. "Not so fast, slugger. You know the rules. Anything hit into the rhino pen is an automatic out. And by the way--that ain't mud."
Excerpted from The Rhino in Right Field by Stacy DeKeyser
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.
“Laugh-out-loud fun…A winner in every way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Funny and good-hearted.” —Publishers Weekly
A boy who loves baseball must get past his hard-working immigrant parents—and the rhino in the outfield—to become a batboy in this laugh-out-loud middle grade novel in the tradition of The Sandlot.
Nick wants to change his life. For twelve years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest, and Nick wants to win.
But the contest is on a Saturday—the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. There’s one other tiny—well, not so tiny—problem. A 2,000-pound rhinoceros named Tank. Nick and his friends play ball in the city zoo—and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest?
Nick practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough—to get to the contest, Nick has to lie to his parents and blackmail his uncle. All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty. Nick will need to keep his eye on the ball in this fast, funny story about a game that can throw you some curveballs—just like life!