The Missing Baseball
by Mike Lupica (Author)
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School Library Journal
Gr 1-4--Zach and Zoe are twins with a passion for sports of all kinds. In the first entry of this new series, The Missing Baseball, Zach brings his most special autographed baseball to school for sharing with his classmates. It goes missing, and Zoe is on the case. In between gathering clues, the twins play soccer, basketball, and baseball. The mystery comes to a gentle ending and a climatic baseball game is won by Zoe with good sportsmanship shown by her loyal brother. In the second title, The Half-Court Hero, the twins are in a weekend basketball tournament. The court where they are to play is in pretty rough shape: broken benches, no nets, and it's in need of repainting. A mysterious benefactor begins nightly repairs on the court, and Zoe and Zach gather clues to solve the mystery of the do-gooder. All is neatly wrapped up at the end of this short chapter book. Zach and Zoe are likable and kind to each other, and their parents are supportive. Lupica knows how to write sports action with a heart, but his skill as a mystery writer for the chapter book crowd is not as refined. The clues are a bit too obvious and the resolution to the puzzles is not terribly engaging. Kids will appreciate that the sports action doesn't focus on just one sport per title, but the mystery elements won't keep many readers puzzling--they will have figured it out long before the twins do. VERDICT Give these to young readers who are looking for easy sports fiction or who are new to the mystery genre. An additional selection.--John Scott, Friends School of Baltimore
Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.Review quotes
"Zach and Zoe are likable and kind to each other, and their parents are supportive. Lupica knows how to write sports action with a heart . . . Give these to young readers who are looking for easy sports fiction or who are new to the mystery genre."—School Library Journal
He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For the past fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2.
In 1987, Lupica launched "The Sporting Life" column in Esquire magazine. He has published articles in other magazines, including Sport, World Tennis, Tennis, Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. He has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation.
Mike Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, collaborated with noted author and screenwriter, William Goldman on Wait 'Till Next Year, and wrote The Summer of '98, Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back and Shooting From the Lip, a collection of columns. In addition, he has written a number of novels, including Dead Air, Extra Credits, Limited Partner, Jump, Full Court Press, Red Zone, Too Far and national bestsellers Wild Pitch and Bump and Run. Dead Air was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery and became a CBS television move, "Money, Power, Murder" to which Lupica contributed the teleplay. Over the years he has been a regular on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. On the radio, he has made frequent appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s.
His previous young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.
JUV028000 - Juvenile Fiction | Mysteries, Espionage, & Detective Stories
JUV032010 - Juvenile Fiction | Sports & Recreation | Baseball
Lost and found possessions
Lost articles
Schools
Mystery and detective stories
Detective and mystery fiction
Twins
JUVENILE FICTION / Mysteries & Detective Stor
Contests
JUVENILE FICTION / School & Education
JUVENILE FICTION / Sports & Recreation / Base
Baseballs
