ALA Booklist

Gr. 4-7. Haven debuts with a long, laid-back tale featuring a perennially hapless baseball team and its most superstitious fan. Though 11-year-old Danny, team ball boy, follows an elaborate regimen whenever the Sluggers are playing (Never leave a window open when a right-hander is on the mound, etc.), the team is, typically, mired 16 games out. The luck begins to turn, however, after Danny filches a pack of 108-year-old gum from the decrepit mansion of team founder and bubblegum mogul Manchester E. Boddlebrooks. As Danny chews, the Sluggers start winning, ultimately climbing into a tie with the blue-chip Texas Tornadoes. But then, having sailed into celebrity status as team good-luck charm for the Sluggers, Danny captures the eye of the Tornadoes' ruthless owner, billionaire Diamond Bob Honeysuckle. Well endowed with stock characters and familiar side plots, as well as nail-biting baseball action that culminates in an epic championship series, this tale is for any kid who has ever turned a cap inside out or crossed a few fingers. Illustrations not seen.

Voice of Youth Advocates

Eleven-year-old Danny Gurkin has become famous in his home town for the many superstitious behaviors that he practices to help the local baseball team. As described in a local newspaper story, before each game Danny buys two hot dogs from his favorite vendor, adjusts the amount of mustard according to the starting pitcher, then races home before the starting pitch to sit upside down on the couch, close the windows tight, cross his fingers, and hold his breath at key moments. But despite the rabid loyalty of Danny and other fans, the Sluggers are perennially mired in last place. Convinced that the team is suffering a decades-long bad-luck jinx that will remind Red Sox fans of the "Curse of the Bambino," Danny persuades his best friends, Lucas and Molly, to join him in a daring expedition to explore a crumbling mansion where a long-ago tragedy might still be haunting the team. When the Sluggers unexpectedly begin winning, many suppose that Danny's well-publicized superstitions are finally bringing results. Only Danny knows that the Sluggers turnaround began when he found a secret substance in a hidden room of the mansion. This first novel by a veteran journalist recreates a sense of the single-minded devotion that Americans felt for major league baseball before steroids, free agency, and the growing popularity of other team sports detracted from the "national pastime." Haven's quirky, nostalgic, and occasionally humorous portrayal of a boy's obsession with sympathetic magic in the service of a baseball team will be appreciated by middle school sports fans.-Walter Hogan.

Horn Book (Tue Aug 01 00:00:00 CDT 2006)

A die-hard fan of the Sluggers, a cursed baseball team, Danny adheres faithfully to a network of superstitions designed to bring his team luck. But during a pilgrimage to the long-vacated mansion of the team's original owner, Danny finds something that works: vile-tasting bubblegum. This lighthearted tall tale, though not consistently attention-grabbing, emanates folk wisdom and good humor.

School Library Journal

Gr 5-8-Eleven-year-old Danny Gurkin is a devoted Sluggers fan, even though the team has won only one championship in its 108-year history (and that took place in their very first season). Hope and superstition are the hallmarks of their doggedly loyal fans. During the season, Danny's life is dictated by a complex web of superstitions that dictate how and where he'll watch the games (always avoiding the wrong side of the sofa), what he'll wear, and what he'll eat (two hot dogs, though the toppings vary by circumstance: a rookie pitcher calls for extra onions, for example). Haven's first novel will delight readers with its whimsically exaggerated detail as he simultaneously celebrates and winks a knowing eye at baseball's cherished folklore and superstitions. The intricate plot, which begins with "the curse of the poisoned pretzel," will keep readers on the edge of their seats right up to the glorious finale set during baseball's fall classic. Mysteriously odd characters disappear and reappear. Danny, his friends, and the Sluggers themselves are lovable underdogs, comically earnest, and recognizable to baseball fans everywhere. Haven's quirky style with an eye for oddball detail and comic hyperbole will remind readers of Roald Dahl and Eva Ibbotson.-Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Danny Gurkin, 11, doesn't just root for the Sluggers, he believes his support will alter their cellar-dwelling status. On game day, he follows a precise set of rituals—eating two hot dogs, fully dressed, from the same vendor, being in front of the TV for the first pitch, closing the windows when there's a righty on the mound, etc. When he learns of plans to demolish the palatial home of the former Sluggers owner, a bubble-gum tycoon, he and two friends cycle 30 miles to see it, hoping to find a way to save the mansion. During a tour, Danny pockets some hidden and foul-smelling bubble gum, which he unwraps and pops into his mouth later that day—just as his team rallies to win a game in the ninth. A newspaper story outlining Danny's superstitions—and their apparent effectiveness as the Sluggers go on a winning streak—earns him a spot in the dugout as the team's lucky charm. The rather tedious pace (and length) of the narrative diminishes the appealing elements of this baseball tall tale (which includes outlandish subplots about the poisonous relations between the bubble-gum tycoon and his brother, a legendary missing shortstop and a mayoral election). Still, there's lots of baseball action for fans, and though first novelist Haven stops the story before the fate of the Sluggers is fully revealed, the outcome is never really in question. Ages 8-12. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Apr.)

Kirkus Reviews

Danny Gurkin is devoted to the game of baseball and most especially to the hapless Sluggers. Adhering to a variety of superstitious activities in order to prod the team into winning at least occasionally, Danny eats two hot dogs with everything immediately before each game and stands on his head during key innings. But the Sluggers have been cursed by events that occurred 108 years ago at the celebration of their only championship at the amazing mansion of their enormously wealthy, eccentric owner, Manchester Boddlebrooks. When he ate a poisoned pretzel given to him by his jealous brother, he fell over dead, landing on and crushing the team's star player. Now Danny becomes the catalyst of a wild, fantastical series of bizarre and hilarious adventures that range from cheating rivals, magic bubblegum and marvelously weird characters. Charles Dickens meets Harry Potter at the old ballgame. Huge, magical and delightful. (Fiction. 10-12)