Review of "Little League Hotshots," by William Heuman

Review of

Little League Hotshots, by William Heuman ISBN 0396065015

Three out of five stars

 Luis is a boy that recently arrived in the United States from Puerto Rico where he will stay with his uncle in a migrant labor camp. The housing is minimal, as most of the workers live there only in the growing season, which is about half of the year. It is the time of year when the farmers thoughts turn to planting and the boys think of baseball. As more of the farm workers arrive in the area, there are enough boys from Puerto Rico to form a baseball team.

The team is formed, and Luis is the shortstop, good with both the glove and the bat. However, they have no home field to play on. Fortunately, the young owner of one of the big farms is sympathetic and he arranges for a field to be created and sponsors to provide uniforms and equipment. When a dog emerges from the swamp with no collar, Luis adopts him, calls him Pepe and the team now has a mascot.

 From this point on, the story is very predictable, Luis’ team is very successful and plays for the championship. Pepe’s owner spots him and takes him back, making Luis very sad. Everything works out in the end, with the team playing for the county championship with the game ending with one of baseball’s rarest of plays. The story is uplifting, but you see the ending well before the team is close to it.