Playoff Dreams

March 1, 1998
Gr 2-5-Brendan is the best player on his team, but he feels "it's gonna be a long season," if his team doesn't start winning some games soon. After his Uncle Jack takes him to a Cubs game at Wrigley Field, Brendan learns about other players who have been talented but have never made it to the playoffs or the World Series. His uncle explains, "It's like your team....They aren't winning, but you wouldn't want to play for another team, would you?" This is the fourth book in a series that uses actual sports heroes to reinforce a positive attitude among young athletes. Here, it is Ernie Banks, who hit over 500 home runs but usually played for a team that finished near the bottom of the league. Appealing pen-and-ink illustrations enhance the text, but the cover art doesn't reach out to potential readers. A fine purchase if other titles in the series have circulated well.-Blair Christolon, Prince William Library, Manassas, VA

November 1, 1997
Gr. 3^-5. The best player on a baseball team at the bottom of the standings, Brendan feels he has to do it all in order for them to make the play-offs. Taking one chance too many, he makes the last out in an important game. Dad's involved with his music gigs and Mom's out delivering babies, but Uncle Jack steps in to take Brendan to a Cubs game and deliver a few truths about loving to play the game, win or lose. And what better site for that lecture than the home field of lost causes, Wrigley Field? Uncle Jack's remarks on the attitude and achievements of Ernie Banks and the lore of Wrigley Field may interest baseball fans. Like Matt Christopher's sports stories, this chapter book from the All Star Sport Story series has a simple plot and a well-defined problem. A few pages of related baseball history close out the volume. ((Reviewed November 1, 1997))(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 1997, American Library Association.)