Comics and baseball are all Dan needs-before the accident.Things couldn't really be going better for 13-year-old Dan. The Mira Giants have just qualified for the Western New York Double Elimination Tournament, and a new Captain Nexus comic is about to come out. Dan's father is too busy for him these days, but it's OK, because Dan shares comics and baseball and everything great with his best friend, Nate, the Giants' amazing pitcher. So Dan's world seems shattered when Nate is hit with a baseball during practice. Now Nate's in a coma, and Dan's falling apart. Maybe if he and Nate's kid brother make a Captain Nexus fan-fiction comic, that will be the talisman that wakes Nate up? While Nate spirals through rage, fear, and magical thinking, he tries to draw lessons from his beloved comics. But if comics can't save Nate, Dan's got nothing left-except encouraging the now-underdog Giants through a series of inspiring speeches and cinematic epiphanies. Long passages describing the Captain Nexus comics are lovingly detailed, showing a passion for the art of the superhero comic, but these moments drag the action to a crawl; in a visual medium, the dynamism depicted would complement the baseball tropes, but in prose, they detract. Dan and most characters appear to be white, though it's left unclear.Though uneven, stirringly hits every despairing low and thrilling high of a sports movie. (Fiction. 10-12)

Gr 58 A story of comic books, baseball, and friendship. Dan and his best friend, Nate, love reading about the comic book adventures of Captain Nexus and the Zone. And the two boys are so close that they can tell by a tap of the nose what the other person is thinkingwhich comes in handy when Nate, a powerhouse pitcher on their baseball team, is pitching. When their team makes it to the playoffs, they are elated. Then Nate gets knocked out by a ball during practice, and a coma is induced to keep his brain from swelling. Dan is sure that this is the end of their championship hopes. Worse, he believes that he is responsible for the accident and that it is up to him to save Nate. Dan, Nate's brother Ollie, and Olllie's friend Courtney start trying to make that happen, with some surprising help from the comic book creator himself. In the end, readers learn it takes finding their own strength and goodness inside to make things happen. The baseball scenes from the tournament are engaging, and side characters are strong. Both baseball and comic book fans will enjoy this title. Fans of Mike Lupica and John Feinstein will also want to follow this engaging author. Dan is cued as white. VERDICT Recommended for all libraries, this book about sports, comics, and the power of friendship will be widely read.Deanna McDaniel