The fourth episode in Green’s Baseball Great series continues to throw tough challenges at young Josh, both on and off the playing field. Here the 13-year-old superstar really rides the emotional roller coaster as he continues to love his divorced, bitterly incompatible parents and also falls into a batting slump exacerbated by the demands of a harsh, possibly unscrupulous new coach. The baseball action is exciting, if not so intense as the domestic Sturm und Drang, and is capped by a rigged home-run contest that leads to a surprise happy ending. Sports play a strong enough role to put this solidly in that genre, but the domestic issues broaden its potential audience.

Reviewed by Booklist