Great Baseball Books

There are lots of sports books out there for the elementary school crowd, and recently I've read a couple that stand out. These books would be great for a rainy day when it's impossible to actually be at the ballpark.

The first one is Top of the Order by John Coy. Jackson, the main character, and his friend Gig are on a baseball team that needs another player for second base. When Gig's sister Sydney joins up, she quickly demonstrates how good she is at baseball, but Gig is furious. Jackson's not sure whether he should be supporting his friend or supporting Sydney, which is better for the team. There are enough descriptive baseball sequences in the story to keep ball fanatics interested, and the story moves along well.

Another one I read recently was Dan Gutman's Roberto and Me. This is the latest in his Baseball Card Adventures series, where Stosh, the main character, has the ability to travel through time using old baseball cards. In this one, he tries to go back in time to save Roberto Clemente, the famous baseball player and humanitarian, from dying in a tragic plane crash. There isn't as much action centered around the game of baseball itself, but the idea of traveling through space and time and meeting famous people will appeal to kids who used to be Magic Tree House fans but have grown out of that series.