Six Innings - by James Preller (Paperback)

About the Book

If Judy Blume could write a book about Little League, about its players' deepest fears and secret dreams, it might come out something like this.--"Publishers Weekly," starred review.

Book Synopsis

Two teams, six innings, one game.

A lively cast of characters--baseball-loving boys between the ages of eleven to thirteen--are playing the biggest game of their lives. With acrobatic catches, clutch hits, dramatic whiffs, and costly errors, this game is full of action. But as the book unfolds, pitch by pitch, a deeper story emerges, with far more at stake: Sam and Mike, best friends, are trying to come to terms with Sam's newly diagnosed cancer. And this baseball diamond becomes the ultimate testing ground of Sam and Mike's remarkable friendship as they strive to find a way to both come out winners.

This is for the championship.

This is for life.

Six Innings is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

From the Back Cover

Dylan feels the ball in his glove, grips it across the seam, reaches back for something extra, and blows Angel away with a high fast-ball. Strike three! Yes! Sam Reiser leans back and savors the moment. He is now completely caught up in the game. Everything else falls away, all life's distractions, like a skin that's been shed. He doesn't worry about his hair, or homework, or doctors. He isn't concerned about tomorrow. That's what baseball gives him, the urgency of the here and now.

Review Quotes

"Perceptive and funny, sketches introduce us to the players while the nail-biting action keeps the pages turning." --The Miami Herald, on Six Innings as one of the Best Kids' Books of the Year

"Preller raises his game with this perceptive group portrait of boys who play Little League baseball. . . If Judy Blume could write a book about Little League, about its players' deepest fears and secret dreams, it might come out something like this." --Publishers Weekly, starred review

"Dishing up a rare example of a character-driven tale that is also suspenseful and exciting, the author of the Jigsaw Jones series chronicles a magnificent championship game between two Little League teams that is as much about the players as the plays." --Booklist, starred review

"This is a book whose emotional pull creeps up on you, pitch by pitch. Organized around the six innings of a Little League championship game, the story will appeal to longtime fans of baseball as well as those who know nothing about the sport . . . this is a book as much about on-the-field action as it is life lessons....Even sports veterans will savor many of Preller's observations--especially about pitchers (e.g., 'All pitchers have a little bit of rock star in them'; 'It is a job for an egotist. And an optimist. No others need apply.'). Like the boys on the field and in the press box, readers will feel this is a game to remember." --Shelf Awareness

"Sharing tidbits of these boys' lives, exposing diverse backgrounds and situations, Six Innings should hit home with many readers....A tale of baseball, friendship, growth, and coming to terms with hardships, this fast read will grasp any reader who enjoys sports." --School Library Journal

"Little touches make this novel stand out from other baseball fiction aimed at younger readers... Do not let this title ride the pine, but make sure it has a place in your sports fiction line-up." --VOYA

"Following the play-by-play builds suspense and brings the reader right into the action and the special world of baseball and the people who love it." --Kirkus Reviews

About the Author

James Preller is the author of the popular Jigsaw Jones mystery books, which have sold more than 10 million copies since 1998. He is also the author of Bystander, named a 2009 Junior Library Guild Selection, and Mighty Casey, his own twist on the classic poem, "Casey at the Bat." In addition to writing full-time, Preller plays in a men's hardball league and coaches Little League. He compares coaching kids to "trying to hold the attention of a herd of earthworms." He lives in Delmar, New York, with his wife, three children, cats and dog.