Gr 3-6 While this book is in part a biography, it mainly covers the history of the "Curse of the Bambino." This superstition dates back to the year that the Red Sox sold Babe Ruth to the Yankees, and many Boston fans believe it is the reason for the team's poor showing in the World Series. The book provides a modern context by describing the heartbreaking loss of the Sox to the Yankees in 2003. It goes on to give a brief but balanced account of the life of Babe Ruth, including some of the unsavory aspects of his behavior and personality. Kelly ends on a happy note, with the Red Sox winning the 2004 World Series. The theme of luck, both good and bad, runs throughout the tale. Play-by-play descriptions of important games will keep baseball fanatics reading to the end. Kathleen Meulen, Sakai Intermediate School, Bainbridge Island, WA

When Grant transfers to Nutley School, most kids accommodate his allergy by changing their lunch menus and forgoing peanut butter. Simon, for whom peanut butter is "essential," finally accepts a new food as a lunch item and joins his friends in the "peanut-free cafe." The sunny art and expressive diverse kids underscore the light touch delivering the message.

Two nonfiction baseball stories enclosed in one cover should be a winner for newly established readers who are baseball fanatics—unfortunately, it's not. The first is a thin sketch of the life of The Babe, the Bambino, George Herman Ruth, bad boy turned national hero, a figure larger than life. Too thin, alas: The Babe was so outsized, so personable, so human, and not enough of that comes through in this. The second story is the sad tale of the fall of the Boston Red Sox after The Babe was sold to the hated New York Yankees. Following that fateful event, Boston was in decline for decades as New York was in ascendancy. It's an exciting story, but Kelly's writing is flat, dependent on exclamation points and forms of "to get" instead of strong, chewy verbs—lazy and inexcusable writing in a book meant for developing readers. Furthermore, even as the book appears on shelves it is outdated, making no mention of Barry Bonds or of the Red Sox's ignominious defeat in 2008. Too bad. (Nonfiction. 6-9)

Kelly offers a fairly extensive look at the famous curse that seemingly dogged the Boston Red Sox after they traded Babe Ruth to the Yankees. The first part of the book follows the early life and career of Ruth and then moves on to accounts of the Red Sox's World Series appearances, culminating in 2004, when the curse seemed to break. The book's strongest portion focuses on Ruth's career in Boston, with a quick summary of his success as a pitcher and his conflicts with the team's owner. Other chapters drag a bit, however, and now that the curse is broken, baseball fans beyond Boston may not find this as interesting as they once would have. Still, many sports readers will find this enjoyable. Pair this with Dan Shaughnessy's The Legend of the Curse of the Bambino (2005), which presents similar material in picture-book format.