Fenway Fever

October 1, 2012

Gr 5-8-Born with a heart defect, Alfredo Carl "Stats" Pagano has never been able to play baseball, but has loved helping his father with their Fenway Park hot dog stand and watching the Red Sox games from their family's season ticket holder seats. This year, things aren't going so well for the team. Players keeping getting injured or missing crucial game plays and fans are starting to turn on them. Red Sox pitcher Billy Orbit thinks there's a new curse starting. Something in the park has changed and caused an energy imbalance. Helping his friend to research the problem, Stats discovers that whenever the hawks get chased out of the park, the team has a bad year. Before long, however, Stats and his family start having their own problems. Stats's heart is giving out and he needs an operation. Papa Pagano is deep in debt and needs to find a way to come up with $135,000 as well as the cost of his son's operation just to keep his business going. Can Stats save his family's business and the park? James Colby's has great accents and unique voices for each of the characters eill resonate with the listeners. His transitions between humor, major setbacks, and the characters' love of baseball are beautifully done and occur smoothly without affecting the story. Avid and reluctant readers alike who enjoy baseball or mysteries will enjoy John H. Ritter's heartwarming story (Philomel, 2012).-Kira Moody, Whitmore Public Library, Salt Lake City, UT

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