FREE BASEBALL
by Sue Corbett
Dutton Children's Books
ISBN: 0525471200
Ages 8-12
160 pages

Felix Piloto is the son of a famous baseball player in Cuba. He knows that his father risked everything to send him and his mother to America, but he doesn't know when his father will be able to join them in Florida. One day Felix wins free tickets to a minor-league game. He sneaks into the locker room to ask one of the Cuban players about his father and is mistaken for their new batboy. He impulsively stows away in the luggage compartment of the bus and wakes up in West Lauderdale, Florida, miles away from home.

Felix, who is a huge baseball fan and a great player himself, is in heaven. He endears himself to the entire team and even helps them break their losing streak. He wants to stay with the team forever, but knows he can't.

Sue Corbett, the author of 12 AGAIN, delivers a home run with her second middle-grade novel. Felix Piloto is a richly drawn character, full of contradictions; vulnerable yet assertive, agreeable yet stubborn. The book even contains a helpful glossary of baseball terms and Spanish phrases.

I am not a huge baseball fan, but I loved this story. Corbett has hit the ball out of the park with FREE BASEBALL.

   --- Reviewed by Renee Kirchner (renee.kirchner@usa.net)

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