Maggie Fortini loves baseball, especially her beloved Brooklyn Dodgers.  When she’s not hanging out with her best friend Treecie, she hangs out with the guys–and the dog Charky–down at the firehouse where her father used to work.  Her new friend Jim (even though he is a New York Giants fan) teaches her to keep score of every pitch, hit and run.  Maggie hopes keeping score will give the Dodgers just enough to finally win the pennant race and the World Series, but her hopes are dashed year after year.  Then Jim is called up to serve in Korea and stops answering her letters.  Do her hope and prayers mean anything at all?  Maybe, maybe not.    Even though life does not always work out the way we want, Maggie learns that “hope is what gets everything started.  When you make plans, it’s because you hope something good is going to happen.  Hope always comes first” (Parks 189).

I’m not a big baseball fan and had no idea what keeping score was all about, but I couldn’t help but join Maggie as she cheered on her Brooklyn Dodgers.  Even I have heard of Jackie Robinison who played with the Dodgers (Maggie’s one and only team) and of Willie Mays (Maggie’s favorite player) who played with the New York Giants.  With Keeping Score (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt) Park captures America’s favorite pasttime and more with this heartfelt look at faith and life.  Take it from me, you don’t have to be a baseball fan to enjoy this book.

Since spring is coming, what are some of your favorite baseball stories?

Picture from Titlewave