Baseball Genius

December 15, 2016
Hooking up with a renowned shortstop-turned-publisher, Green shows that the premise of his Football Genius (2007) plays just as well in another sport. It's not a straight remake, but Green does recycle select plot elements and character types along with said premise. Hot to play for the local 13-and-under Rockets despite its starting pitcher, who is both a bully and the favored son of the team's brutal coach, Jalen steals a bag of autographed baseballs from aging Yankees' superstar James Yager to peddle for the requisite $990. Caught, he escapes punishment by claiming so insistently that he can predict pitches that the skeptical but slumping Yager brings him to Yankee Stadium for a tryout. Jalen does have a gift, though it turns out to be a fitful one. Green's biracial protagonist (white and black) leads a cast that includes a struggling single dad who speaks in a cheesy Italian accent ("I take-a you shoes off....You close-a the eyes"), a standard-issue spunky-girl pal, and an admixture of actual sports personalities and athletes--including the likewise biracial Jeter, who claims his shared title-page credit by offering encouraging platitudes in a gratuitous cameo. The tale offers plenty of sports action as it scrambles from base to base past sudden obstacles and personal challenges. A bunt at best, but Green's a good enough storyteller to keep readers in the game. (Fiction. 10-13)

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February 1, 2017

Gr 5-8-Green teams up with Jeter in his latest piece of sports fiction. Jalen is the son of an Italian immigrant. He lives with his father, who works long days at his diner trying to make ends meet. Jalen has serious baseball talent and has just made a travel team. The only problem is that he needs some extra cash to pay for his team fees. Jalen's friends Cat and Daniel live near a Major League Baseball player's house, and Yankees star James "JY" Yager routinely signs batting practice balls and sells them to benefit a youth sports foundation. Jalen knows that if he can get his hands on a few of those balls, he can easily sell them on eBay to pay for his travel team fees. What he does not see coming is an injured ankle keeping Yager home from a Yankees road trip-and Jalen is caught red-handed. Jalen tells Yager that he has the ability to read pitchers and knows which pitch any guy in the pros will throw before he even gets into his windup. Yager is on the verge of being replaced by a younger player, and his sole shot at staying on the Yankees' roster is by going four-for-four in his next game. If Jalen can help him out from the stands, Yager will pay his travel team fees. The manager of the Yankees, however, has an entirely different agenda. Green is a prolific sports fiction writer, and having Jeter's name grace the cover will keep this book in demand. Green does a nice job incorporating diverse characters throughout the narrative. Despite a predictable story, this title is sure to circulate.

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