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Summary
Summary
A straight-talking, fourteen-year-old first baseman, benched by mono, decides to take a swing at writing poetry in Ron Koertge's clever, compelling new novel written in free verse.
Their pitcher walks our leadoff man.
Greg moves him up to second with a perfect
sacrifice. Fabian loops one into right.
I'm up. Two on, one out. I'm the cleanup
man. My job is to bring these guys home.
MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won't be seeing a baseball field for a while, and he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad's den. Before Kevin knows it, he's writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What's the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing - about the smart-talking Latina girl who thinks poets are cool, even about his mother, whose death is a still-tender loss for which he finally finds the words.
Written in free verse with examples of several poetic forms slipped into the mix, including a sonnet, haiku, pastoral, and even a pantoum, this funny, poignant story by a master of dialogue is an English teacher's dream - sure to hook poetry lovers, baseball fanatics, mono recoverers, and everyone in between.
Author Notes
Ron Koertge, the author of several acclaimed novels for young adults -
including STONER & SPAZ and THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS - has been a faculty member for more than thirty-five years at Pasadena City College, where he has taught everything from Shakespeare to remedial writing. He also writes poetry for adults. Of SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP, he says, "I find it funny that kids will willingly follow the rules in any game, but if you give them rules for writing poetry, they rebel!"
Reviews (5)
School Library Journal Review
Gr 6-9-Like his earlier The Brimstone Journals (Candlewick, 2001), Koertge writes this novel in highly accessible free verse. Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland is an MVP first baseman whose whole life revolves around baseball. Diagnosed with mono, he is forced to stay at home for months while he recuperates. Bored, Kevin borrows his father's book of poetry and starts writing his own. At first, he just has fun imitating haiku and sonnets, but he soon begins writing insightful verse, both funny and serious, in which he records his candid observations about life in junior high, romance, his dreams of baseball stardom, and his grief over the recent death of his mother. This funny and poignant novel celebrates the power of writing to help young people make sense of their lives and unlock and confront their problems. The cover will lead readers to believe that this is about baseball, but they will quickly realize there is much, much more to this finely crafted story.-Edward Sullivan, White Pine School, TN (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Publisher's Weekly Review
A 14-year-old baseball star temporarily sidelined by a case of mono narrates Koertge's (The Brimstone Journals; Stoner & Spaz) affecting novel told in verse. After Kevin's writer father gives him a journal, the bored boy sneaks a book about poetry out of his father's den and decides, "I'm just going to fool around a little,/ see what's what poetry-wise." Though he dabbles in several poetic forms, including haiku, sonnet, ballad and rhymed couplets, Kevin writes primarily in free verse. He candidly and sometimes comically muses on his baseball ambitions, former girlfriends, teammates, his rapport with his supportive, sympathetic father and his budding romance with a bright, caring young woman. Several heart-wrenching poems describe his and his father's pain-and gradual healing-following the recent death of Kevin's mother. Some of the entries are more effective than others, yet the teen's newly discovered poetic voice evolves believably and winningly. Kevin's numerous perceptive observations (e.g., "The rules of the game/ [of] baseball and poetry aren't that different"; "When I got sick I missed baseball./ When I got well I missed writing./ Amazing") may well inspire readers to reflect on their own feelings and aspirations-and to express themselves more creatively. This novel scores points for both style and substance. Ages 12-up. (Mar.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Horn Book Review
(Middle School) Laid up with mono, Kevin reluctantly sets aside his baseball glove and picks up a pen ""to see what's what poetry-wise."" In a narrative composed of first-person poems, the fourteen-year-old experiments with a variety of literary forms--including haiku, couplets, sonnets, free verse, and even a pantoum--as he muses on playing baseball, his grief over his mother's death, and his chaotic and confusing history with girls. Some of the poems have an unpolished, perfunctory quality, yet that's in keeping with the young writer's inexperience. More often they deliver memorable images (upon returning to his team: ""No more ghosting around my own house. / No more living secondhand"") and offer insight into the art of creating poetry (""when I was looking for rhymes I was like / some guy pawing through his sock drawer / for a pair that matched""). Best of all, they convey an evolving sense of self as Kevin gets romantic with a poetry-loving girl, considers sharing one of his own works at an open reading, and realizes that poetry is ""almost as cool as baseball."" (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
Kirkus Review
Koertge (Brimstone Journals, 2001, etc.) joins the ever-swelling ranks of writers experimenting with novels-in-verse with this journal of a teenaged jock who develops a taste for writing poetry while laid up with mono. Confined to the house, and mostly to bed, Kevin starts sneaking peeks into a prosody manual of his father's, and trying his hand at different poetic forms, from haiku ("Frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs / Frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, / Frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, leaves"), sonnet, and pantoum (look it up), to ballad, sestina, blank and free verse. He discovers along the way that he likes the way poetry focuses language, and also makes it easier to express feelings--particularly about the loss of his mother. Reflectively tracking his slow recovery, Kevin also chronicles his struggle to regain a place in his baseball team's starting lineup, and a developing relationship with Mira, a new friend who doesn't laugh off his literary efforts. In the end, although his life is reshaped by his long illness, the future (except on the playing field) still looks bright. Kevin's mix of lame and not-so-lame poems effectively convey realistic learning and recovery curves--and may also plant the idea in receptive readers that it's okay for guys to write. (Fiction. 10-12) Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Gr. 7^-10. Koertge has written a standout among the growing number of young adult novels told through verse. Faced with months at home because of a bout of mono, 14-year-old Kevin Boland begins to write poems, using a book from his father's collection to guide him. He writes about such things as the recent death of his mother, his love of baseball, and his make-out sessions with girls. When he recovers, he continues his writing habit and finds a new girlfriend, experimenting with different forms of poetry along the way, including free verse, haiku, sonnets, ballads, and even a sestina. Koertge does an excellent job of creating the authentic voice of a teenage boy exclusively through poems. The poems are funny, touching, and always energetic, and they show both Kevin's growing love for poetry and his struggles as a writer. Several of his attempts at difficult forms break apart in the middle, and some poems have rough edges, giving an extra dose of realism to the somewhat artificial concept of the book. Readers will find themselves identifying with Kevin and perhaps come to understand his attraction to poetry. --Todd Morning