Review of "Bats & Gloves of Glory," by Marion Renick

Review of

Bats & Gloves of Glory, by Marion Renick


Four out of five stars

 This book of juvenile fiction is about the love of baseball and not about actually playing the game. Bruce is a boy with one real passion, baseball. He follows and understands the game at a level far beyond his years. When his class is issued a challenge to develop and present their hobbies with a major prize at stake, all he can think of is how to turn his passion for baseball into a hobby.

 The temporal setting is a time when there was town team baseball with several levels of minor league baseball down to the D category. There is a local team with a star outfielder named Ted Taves that Bruce is a fan off. Fortunately, when Bruce goes to the ballpark alone, he meets a former player that is now a scout for a major league team. This gives Bruce an opportunity to enter the inner world of the players and the umpires, giving him and the reader a glimpse inside the world of the players and officials.

 This book is not an adventure and there is almost no action on the field. It is about blending your passion for a sport into schoolwork that will end in a reward for the entire class. Therefore, every member of the class must come up with a quality presentation of their hobby. If the reader is into action stories, then this will disappoint. Yet, it will appeal to the young reader that is not into sports and wild adventure stories, but is interested in following your passion, independent of the circumstances.