Never Blame the Umpire

Kate is having the best summer a sports-loving eleven-year-old could possibly have. Baseball. Tennis. And to top it off, Kate has just started a three-week class where she’s discovering a new love: poetry. Then comes the news that tears Kate’s world apart. In her close-knit family, Kate has always felt God’s love and protection. But how can she trust God now? Do sports or poetry matter when tragedy strikes? In Kate’s darkest hour, her mother’s faith shines its brightest, helping Kate to see that life is still beautiful and God is still good. Always, no matter what.

Fehler, Gene

Parenting & Relationships

Zonderkidz

Children's Books

Literature & Fiction

It’s the worst sound I’ve ever heard in all my years of umping. Oh, I’ve heard plenty of pitches hit a helmet. But this . . . this fastball, up and in. This one hit bone, right in the face. Not even a scream or grunt from the kid. He went down like he was shot.In the bottom of the last inning against their biggest rival, Oak Grove High has two men on base and the score is tied. Luke “Wizard” Wallace is at bat, and he knows what he needs to do: drive in the winning run, save the game, and be a hero. Luke has everything under control, except the pitch.

Beanball

Clarion Books

Baseball season! For a kid who loves the sport, everything about it is important. Pitching, batting, sliding, winning, losing, Grandpa's knuckleballs, superstitious teammates, cheering spectators—even the infield dust . . . each has a place in the player's life. And all are captured here in Fehler's perceptive, exuberant poetry and Donald Wu's lively illustrations. Readers who play baseball will recognize a kindred spirit in the young narrator whose voice is heard in this book and will share his pleasure in every aspect of the game. Sports fans may even discover that they're poetry fans, too.

Change-Up: Baseball Poems

It's the last inning of a high school baseball game between arch-rivals Oak Grove and Compton. Center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace steps up to the plate--and is hit by a beanball, a wild pitch that shatters his skull, destroys the vision in his left eye, and changes his life forever. In this riveting novel, the events surrounding this pivotal moment are recounted through free-verse monologues by 28 different voices, including those of Luke and his Oak Grove teammates; the pitcher, Kyle Dawkins, and other Compton players; the two coaches; Luke's family members and teachers; and Sarah Edgerton, a new classmate who seems more affected by Luke's injury than his girlfriend is. With its unusual format, gripping subject matter, and economy of language, Beanball is a thought-provoking, fast-paced read.

Take a peek at goblin children at play in this amusing, lift-the-flap picture book with bright illustrations and ghoulish surprises for the Halloween season.

Goblin Giggles: A Ghastly Lift-the-Flap Book

Harrison, Robert

Humor

Little Simon

Forced Out (Travel Team)

Zack Waddell's baseball IQ makes him one of the Roadrunners' most important players. When a new kid, Dustin, immediately takes their catcher's spot, Zack is puzzled. Dustin doesn't have the skills to be a starter. So Zack offers to help him with his swing in Dustin's swanky personal batting cages. Zack accidentally overhears a conversation and figures out why Dustin is starting―and why the team is suddenly able to afford an expensive trip to a New York tournament. Will Zack's baseball instincts transfer off the field? Will the Roadrunners be able to stay focused when their team chemistry faces its greatest challenge yet?

Teen & Young Adult

Darby Creek ™

A collection of poems about baseball written from a child's point of view

I Hit the Ball!: Baseball Poems for the Young

McFarland Publishing

This work is a three-part collection of baseball poems. Part One, entitled "Baseball Snapshots," has 114 short, untitled poems written in free verse that provide images of "baseball moments" on and off the playing field. Part Two, "A Baseball Potpourri," features 27 longer, titled poems with all but one written in free verse. Many of the poems found in the second part tell stories about particular baseball events in the lives of a variety of fictional people. Part Three, "A Rhymed Registry: Player Clerihews," is a compilation of 348 clerihews written about players from the past hundred years. Each of the three parts have an introduction.

Dancing on the Basepaths: Baseball Poetry and Verse

Poetry

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fehler, Gene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Books by Fehler, Gene

See the best price to sell, buy, or rent books by Fehler, Gene. BookScouter helps to compare book prices from 25+ online bookstores and 30+ buyback vendors with a single search.

Never Blame the Umpire

Never Blame the Umpire

Beanball

Change-Up: Baseball Poems

Beanball

Goblin Giggles: A Ghastly Lift-the-Flap Book

Forced Out (Travel Team)

Forced Out (Travel Team)

I Hit the Ball!: Baseball Poems for the Young

Dancing on the Basepaths: Baseball Poetry and Verse