Baseball books for a 12-year old

[panerd]

I know there was a thread one time about our favorite baseball books but I was wondering if I could get some recommindations of books for my sixth grade nephew. He is really into baseball and I would love to encourage it with something besides video games or movies. I used to read a lot of the Baseball Hall of Shame series when I was his age but those stories are probably real dated to a kid these days. Is Ball Four too adult? I can remember loving that book but I think I may have been an older teenager. Any ideas?

[Swaggs]

Ball Four would probably be inappropriate.

Some of Rob Neyer's stuff is interesting and relatively short. I think his series of books were called "Big Books of...."

[panerd]

Originally Posted by Swaggs

Ball Four would probably be inappropriate.

Some of Rob Neyer's stuff is interesting and relatively short. I think his series of books were called "Big Books of...."

Yeah his mom and dad are pretty inappropriate... use of lots of cuss words around them, lots of adult conversations with no filter. While I am sure it is nothing he hasn't seen or heard about before he would probably be best to find it on his own.

[Atocep]

Originally Posted by panerd

I know there was a thread one time about our favorite baseball books but I was wondering if I could get some recommindations of books for my sixth grade nephew. He is really into baseball and I would love to encourage it with something besides video games or movies. I used to read a lot of the Baseball Hall of Shame series when I was his age but those stories are probably real dated to a kid these days. Is Ball Four too adult? I can remember loving that book but I think I may have been an older teenager. Any ideas?

I believe John Feinstein has some sports books aimed at kids in the 5th-6th grade range. They're fictional stories though. I'm not sure if you're looking for baseball history type stuff or just baseball as a topic since it interests him.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

I really loved leafing through the baseball encyclopedia when I was a kid. Looking at the year by year standings, league leaders, discovering players I hadn't heard of yet.

There are also many biographies and team specific books geared towards kids.

[LastWhiteSoxFanStanding]

Dola, I enjoyed the Ron Luciano books. I don't think I discovered them until ninth grade, but it gave a funny umpires perspective to the games. I think he wrote four books.

[Matthean]

Knowing that boys love sports, there are children’s authors who churn out one cookie cutter sports story after another. And then there is Mike Lupica. Lupica gives the kind of vivid play by play details that every good sports book needs, while also filling out his characters and their stories off the field with enough interest and realism to make the reader care. Heat’s plot is of the Law & Order ripped from the headlines variety; Cuban-American Michael Arroyo is a star pitcher who’s chances of leading his team to the Little League World Series are jeopardized when he is accused of being older than 12. Not only that, but Arroyo’s parents are dead and he must keep social services from finding out. Sounds schmaltzy, but Lupica manages to keep it topical and relevant without being heavy handed. If your boy digs it, be sure to check out the myriad of Lupica’s other sports-themed offerings.

Like Mike Lupica, Carl Deuker manages to mix the kind of pitch-perfect accounts of sports action that is the hallmark of sports literature, with realistic and compelling characters and plot lines. The Heart of a Champion combines baseball with a story about the influence and impact of fathers on their sons, making this another classic entry in that distinctively male genre of stories: baseball as life. Seth’s father died when he was six and his difficultly in coming to terms with his death has set his life adrift. But then he meets Jimmy, who has a father problem all of his own-his dad is overbearing and an alcoholic. Jimmy’s friendship helps Seth get on track with baseball and school, but when his parents divorce, it’s Jimmy who’s life starts to fall apart. The boys’ choices soon lead them in very different directions.

While those are the only baseball ones, here's the rest of the list.

50 Best Books for Boys and Young Men | The Art of Manliness

[corbes]

See if you can get your hands on a copy of Furman Bisher's Strange But True Baseball Stories. Also recommend the Bronc Burnett books by Wilfred McCormick and "Baseball Stories" by Charles Coombs.

[Lathum]

I really liked The Curious Case of Sid Finch when I was younger, I may have been a few years older though.

[corbes]

Of course the Chip Hilton series too by Clair Bee.

[Buccaneer]

My son, when he was 11-13, loved the Dan Gutman baseball books.

[mauchow]

Painting The Black by Carl Deuker

I can't remember when I read that book but I liked it a lot back whenever that was.. Enough that I remembered what it was so many years later.

[jbergey22]

Originally Posted by corbes

Of course the Chip Hilton series too by Clair Bee.

+1.

[rowech]

Although it's probably below his reading level, anything by Matt Christopher will hold his interest I would guess.

[OldGiants]

Originally Posted by Buccaneer

My son, when he was 11-13, loved the Dan Gutman baseball books.

I can vouch for this. Honus and Me really holds their attention.

[stevew]

I would be willing to bet that his library has a ton of good baseball books. Shoeless Joe would be an obvious selection as well.

[Logan]

I just searched all over trying to figure this out...but I remember as a kid reading a series of fiction baseball books about a kid (think his name was Robert - and it wasn't "Bobby Baseball") that followed his career from high school to college to the minors and majors. Anyone have a clue what I'm talking about?

[Toddzilla]

Get him the greatest book on baseball ever written, "Glory of Their Times" by Lawrence Ritter.

If you haven't read it, then you need to do so right this second.

It is, as stated, the greatest book on baseball ever written.