Batter up!

Mike Lupica is known for writing great baseball books for the middle school crowd, and The Batboy is another winner.  The son of an ex-major league player, Brian is 14 and he just landed his dream job: being a batboy for the Detroit Tigers. He's thrilled when he finds out that Hank Bishop, his all-time baseball hero, is coming to play for the Tigers, after being suspended for steroid use.  Brian doesn't have much of a relationship with his dad - his parents are divorced, his dad is coaching in Japan and never communicates - and he tries to reach out to Hank.  Even though Hank is downright rude, Brian keeps trying, and in the end, they find a way to help each other out.  A solid story with a lot of behind-the-scenes baseball details.

Calling all horse lovers

If you like horses, this is the book for you! There seem to be two parallel stories going on in The Georges and the Jewels by Jane Smiley. Abby is a 7th grader growing up on a California horse ranch in the 1960s. Her father calls all of their male horses "George" and all the females "Jewel," so Abby won't get too attached to any of them before they're sold. Abby does tons of work with the horses, from feeding and grooming to riding and training. The author alternates between this theme and life at school, which features plenty of stress from the Big Four - Linda, Mary A., Mary N., and Joan - and changing friendships with Gloria and Stella. I kept thinking there was going to be a significant link between these two stories, but that never seemed to be developed. Another part of the book, when Abby was asked to help train a horse for Melinda, a shy and very wealthy young girl, had a lot of potential, but it also fell flat. If you like lots of detail about horse raising (each chapter starts with a few beautiful pen and ink drawings of horse equipment), give this book a shot. Otherwise, you may want to take a pass.

How do you spell embarrassed? D-A-D

It's tough enough being thirteen and having divorced parents. But when you find out you're going to go live with your dad (okay) in Chicago (still okay) for a few months (less okay) and he's now impersonating Elvis (way NOT okay), life gets a little crazy. That's just what happens to Josh in this hilarious Rebecca Caudill nominee All Shook Up by Shelley Pearsall. Josh thinks he can make it through a few months of seventh grade in a new location, as long as nobody finds out about his dad, but then learns - oh, no!! - his dad has been invited to perform at his school. Josh comes up with a plan to prevent the performance, but the situation progresses from bad to worse. With help from Ivory, a free-spirited classmate; Viv, Ivory's mom (and girlfriend of Josh's dad); and Gladys, an elderly neighbor who thinks Josh's dad really IS Elvis, Josh learns how to accept the hunk-a, hunk-a burning embarrassment who's trying his best to be a good father.