It was the ninth inning, the bases were loaded, two outs, and the score was 3 to 0. Andy Oyler was up to bat. He was the shortest player in the whole league. Andy was about to get his first pitch when the sky opened up and rain flooded the field. The umpire delayed the game for a while but started it up again just to finish it out. As the pitch approached, Andy felt it was going to hit him but instead it hit his bat. It took everyone by surprise. Where was the ball? The littlest player became an unforgettable hero for his team.

Awards nominated: Monarch Award Nominee 2011

Reviewed by: rn

Date read: 4/9/2010

ISBN-10: 0763623873

ISBN-13: 9780763623876

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Twelve-year-old Lyle Williams, aka Mudshark, is the coolest boy in school. He has the ability to remember small details and that gives him the knack for finding almost anything. Some very unusual things are happening at school. The class gerbil is wandering the hallways, the faculty bathroom has a toxic smell, and the erasers are disappearing from every classroom. The teachers are starting to use their shirts to clean the chalkboards, so Principal Wagner asks Mudshark to find the stolen erasers. Mudshark solves the mystery, but needs the help of some friends and the library's parrot to return the erasers without anyone getting in trouble. Read the book and enjoy the crazy characters.

Reviewed by: rn

Date read: 9/30/2009

ISBN-10: 0385909225

ISBN-13: 9780385909228

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Roy, 12, lives with his father in Moundville. It has been raining for 22 years. Roy's father prepares meals that would gross out most people. One day, Sturgis, not 'Sturge' appears on the couch at home--a foster child. The boys share a room and each learns more about the other as the story progresses. Sturges has scars on his face from a dog fight and only one baseball card. Roy has a whole box full even though baseball is important to both of them. As the boys work for Roy's father, Sturgis has a good work ethic. Roy's work ethic is so-so. When the rain stops and a baseball team is formed to carry on the game started 22 years ago against Sinister Bend, there is one member who answers every question with 'Search Me', so his nickname is Goggle. Also, a new field is needed. The unique cast of characters, none of them perfect, unravel the mystery of the baseball game, but not the rain. How does Moundville become Mudville and back again?

Similar books: The Booklyn Nineby Alan M. Gratz; The Last Olympian by Rick Riordan; The Girl Who Threw Butterflies

Reviewed by: cj

Date read: 8/17/2009

ISBN-10: 0375955798

ISBN-13: 9780375955792

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Maggie resists learning cursive writing in the third grade until she discovers, that knowing how to read and write cursive promises to open up a new world to her.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 0380710870

ISBN-13: 9780380710874

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Horrified at witnessing her father's murder and fearing that the killers are agents of Queen Elizabeth I and also after her, Alice hides in the Yorkshire Cathedral by disguising herself as one of the choirboys.

Reviewed by: sc

Date read: 3/27/2009

ISBN-10: 0395616190

ISBN-13: 9780395616192

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