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Jeter, Derek
6 Reviews
(4)
4-6
Baseball Genius series.
Twelve-year-old Jalen DeLuca (Baseball Genius) is desperate to play travel baseball, but his single dad can't afford the fees. When Jalen is caught stealing baseballs signed by Yankee James Yager, he uses his uncanny ability to predict pitches to help save Yager's flagging career. Themes of bullying and perseverance are woven through this second implausible baseball story. Short chapters keep things moving until the abrupt ending.
Reviewer: Carolyn Shute
(4)
4-6
With Paul Mantell. Fifth in Jeter's loosely autobiographical series about his childhood, this novel concentrates on his search for role models during the summer of his eleventh year. Derek's aspiration to be a good person and a great ballplayer would be overly cloying if we didn't know that's just what he grew up to be. The story's messages are padded with plenty of baseball action.
Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin
(4)
4-6
With Paul Mantell. Baseball fans won't care that there's as much moralizing as sports writing in this fourth novel starring Jeter's younger self. This book centers on Derek's jeopardized friendship with teammate Dave due to Dave's parents' prejudice toward the less-well-off, interracial Jeter family. Stiff prose and superficial interpersonal relationships can't tarnish the appeal of Jeter's name on the cover.
Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin
(4)
4-6
With Paul Mantell. Despite pedestrian writing and overt moralizing, Jeter's third middle-grade baseball novel starring his younger self (The Contract; Hit & Miss) will be welcomed by baseball lovers. There's rudimentary coaching here, from the difference in hand positions between pitching fast balls and change-ups to tips about fielding and base running; but there's also plenty of action, and sportsmanship, teamwork, and focus are appropriately lauded.
Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin
(4)
4-6
With Paul Mantell. Somewhat preachier than Jeter's first book in the series (The Contract), when this title diverges from the action-packed sports writing most readers will be seeking, it addresses prejudice. The new kid in town is super-rich and embarrassed about it. At first, saintly, persuasive Derek is the only kid willing to befriend him. Baseball fans, and especially Jeter's, will overlook the belabored lesson.
Reviewer: Miriam Lang Budin
(4)
4-6
With Paul Mantell. A boy named Derek Jeter chases his dreams of playing in the Major Leagues. The author's note states the story is "based on some of my experiences growing up and playing baseball," and the book's "theme" is: "Set Your Goals High." Third-grade Derek (the character) is remarkably--and unrealistically--self-possessed and self-aware, but fans will get a kick out of this kid-version of their hero.
Reviewer: Elissa Gershowitz
6 reviews
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