Baseball Great
Twelve-year-old Josh LeBlanc has moved a lot in his life; his father is a minor league pitcher hoping to make it to the majors. After his dad is abruptly dumped by his Triple-A team, Josh realizes that he has a chance to stay in one town and play baseball on his school team. His father, however, has other plans, signing Josh up for a traveling team, led by an intense and sometimes brutal coach. Josh eventually discovers that his coach’s winning formula includes handing out steroids. With the help of Jaden, a school newspaper reporter, he manages to take a photograph of the coach receiving steroids behind a hospital. Green delivers a fast-paced story, told in short chapters that build to the exciting climax. He also doesn’t sanitize the rough world of the locker room, showing the intimidation that often accompanies young people’s sports. Add this to other novels that feature the temptations of steroids for young athletes, including Carl Deuker’s Gym Candy (2007) and John Coy’s Crackback (2005). Grades 6-8. --Todd Morning