Bound To Stay Bound

Booklist - 05/01/2022 Smart but easily flustered, Alex can scarcely put two coherent sentences together when speaking with anyone but his parents, his best friend, or 86-year-old Grandpa Ira. Everyone in Weakerville knows Ira, who seldom sits in the owner’s box at Mustard Park, where the Hurricanes play independent league baseball. Instead, he roams the stands, talking with fans and especially with Alex, who analyzes the Hurricanes. After Ira’s death, Alex learns that he is to manage the team, which is in a slump, and that the Hurricanes’ future existence depends on making the playoffs. He takes on the challenge with help from his best friend, who knows nothing about baseball but everything about Alex, and a 13-year-old girl who understands pitching better than many seasoned players. Readers will quickly warm up to Alex, whose self-deprecating humor brightens his perceptive first-person narrative. The story’s pace is leisurely until he starts managing the team, overcoming obstacles while trying to live up to his beloved grandfather’s example of caring about people. A middle-grade baseball novel that's more heart-to-heart than play-by-play. - Copyright 2022 Booklist.