Kurtis wants nothing more than to be near the baseball team, helping in any way he can. However, his brother Ryan finds
Kurtis a bit on the annoying side, always in his way. But this story isn’t only about brothers. The author, right from
the start, has spun a yarn surrounding the mystery as to who vandalized the Chargers team’s baseball equipment.
The boys on the team had formed
their own little club called the Base Stealers Club, initiated when they teamed up and solved a previous mystery. Now the
boys are at it again, this time to discover the identity of the vandals. Yet, the boys have another dilemma: what to do to
raise funds to allow all of their teammates to participate in the National Tournament games hosted outside of their vicinity.
Vivian Zabel gives us a delightful
tale of sportsmanship, excitement centering the team’s efforts to win the tournament games amidst dangerous and mysterious
going-ons, building confidence, and friendship; everything a young adult or even a family would enjoy reading about.
What I loved the most about this
book is the way the mystery played out in snippets, pulling me to continue to read and find out what was going to happen.
The boys pulling through as a team and their interaction with the youngest brother brought a realistic side to it.
Excitement is built slowly as
to ‘who is this mystery person determined to get the team off the Nationals and
back home’. From mysterious threatening notes, phone calls, fire alarms going off in their hotel, to tampered food,
Vivian Zabel punches in a hoot full of excitement for the reader.
It’s easy to read and comprehend,
the black and white pictures add realism to each chapter, and the question “What’s going to happen” eats
away at you until the very end.
A Great Read all around.
Lea Schizas – Muse Book Reviewer
AD