Teen Baseball Fiction

Twelve-year-old House Jackson, star pitcher and team captain of the Aurora County All-Stars, has been sidelined for a whole sorry year with a broken elbow. He's finally ready to play, but wouldn't you know that the team's only game of the year has been scheduled for the exact same time as the town's 200th-anniversary pageant. Now House must face the pageant's director, full-of-herself Frances Shotz (his nemesis and perpetrator of the elbow break), and get his team out of this mess.

This entertaining history blends anecdote, incident, and analysis as it chronicles the story of our national pastime. Alexander covers the advent of the first professional baseball leagues, the game’s surge in the early 20th century, the Golden 20s and the Gray 30s, the breaking of the color line in the late 40s, and the game’s expansion to its current status as a premier team sport. He describes changing playing styles and outstanding teams and personalities, but also demonstrates the many connections to society.

Ryan hated the move. He hated being uprooted from his home in New York to the rural outskirts of Nashville, Tennessee. But little did he know what was in store for him, as he becomes wrapped up in two worlds, and in two conflicts. After touching a baseball bat found in the attic of his new home, the Belle Meade Plantation, Ryan is transported back in time to the Civil War. It is here that he takes part in a baseball game between Union and Confederate soldiers on the eve of the Battle of Nashville. It would be a summer unlike any other.

All good things must come to an end. After spending all of their free time every summer practicing and playing baseball, Malachi, Elizajane, Noah, and Elias must grow up. Playing on the magic diamond against the best players in baseball history would remain one of their greatest experiences, but the field is reserved for the young at heart only, and the big world is good at making people into adults. One Easter, when the four kids are much older and Malachi has kids of his own, they begin talking about the magic diamond they used to play on as kids.

Malachi. Elizajane, Noah, and Elias practice their ball-playing skills every night in the park, getting ready for games on the weekend on their magic diamond. They are lucky enough to play baseball against the greatest players the game had ever seen. With dedication and hard work, the kids make a load of progress on the field. There are a few things, however, which might ensure they embarrass themselves during the games. It’s a good thing Elias and Malachi have a surprise ready. Another day, another exciting and wonderful day on the magic diamond.

When modern baseball fans think of African-American players, they may think of Ken Griffey Jr. or Derek Jeter. But what about the Black stars who didn't play Major League Baseball? In the early 1900s, Black players were not allowed in the Major Leagues. The Negro Leagues provided an alternative for African-American players. Discover the Negro Leagues in this book packed full of facts and stories. Learn about the biggest games and wildest moments of the Negro Leagues era, as well as some of the greatest (and least well-known) players.

Summer vacation has begun, and Malachi, Elizajane, Noah, and Elias are bored out of their minds. Playing pig pile doesn’t help. Neither does banging one’s face on the grass. What to do, what to do? The kids decide to go downtown to see what they can see. They wander past the old drugstore, where Elizajane remembers something about sodas and It’s a Wonderful Life. In a heartbeat she is gone, bolting around the corner to the back of the old building, where she finds a way inside.