The Poetry of Baseball

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup is also a baseball story.  And a story of loss.  And a story of growing up.  And self-discovery.  And it is yet another great book from Ron Koertge.  Told in poetry, it is the story of  a young teen who loves baseball and is quite the star.  When mono keeps him off of the field for many weeks, he turns to poetry out of boredom.  But it turns out, poetry isn't quite so bad! Through his poetry he talks about the loss of his mother, his relationship with his father (who seems like a really nice dude) and a new love interest.  Great stuff and I can't wait to read the second one.  I wish that I could have read it all in one sitting, but life was a bit crazy, so I had to break it up a bit, even though it is super short and makes you want to keep reading and reading.  I would imagine that it is even more powerful if read all at once, so try to carve out an hour, uninterrupted to read this little, powerful book.