Stealing Home

November 1, 2004
Gr 3-6-Joey Gallagher plays center field. When his team's star pitcher is injured, the seventh grader takes over and successfully completes two innings for a win and becomes the hero. Then Jesus arrives from Nicaragua to spend the year with the Gallagher family as a foreign exchange student. Joey adapts quite well-until his guest turns out to be a spectacular baseball player and steals Joey's thunder. There's enough game action to satisfy baseball fans; the school and family scenes are realistically portrayed; and the lessons, including one about appreciating the riches most Americans have in comparison to much of the rest of the world, are integrated well without being preachy. Another hit in a popular series.-Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI

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