The Aurora County All-Stars is a pretty good book about kids and baseball, but there are others, some better. If you know a kid who loves books and baseball, or if you are one, here are some titles to check out:

Heat by Mike Lupica. Published in 2007, this book got a lot of attention, and it was a finalist for the 2006 Cybil Award for Middle Grade Fiction. Semicolon review here.

Skinnybones by Barbara Park. “I’ve played Little League baseball for six years now. But to tell you the truth, I’m not exactly what you’d call a real good athlete. Actually, I’m not even real okay. Basically, what I’m trying to say here is, I stink.” The smallest kid on the team aspires to basebll greatness.

Catcher With a Glass Arm by Matt Christopher. Others by this classic sports fiction writer: The Lucky Baseball Bat, The Kid Who Only Hit Homers, Return of the Home Run Kid, Comeback of the Home Run Kid, Stealing Home, Baseball Flyhawk, Baseball Pals, Baseball Turnaround, and more. From Matt Christopher’s website: “Matt Christopher is America’s bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies.”

Hang, Tough, Paul Mather by Alfred Slote. “One thing Tom Kinsella could do that none of my other doctors could do was juggle. I found that out one day when he came into my room and spotted the three autographed baseballs.” Baseball and leukemia.

Honus and Me: A Baseball Card Adventure by Dan Gutman. Joe travels through time to meet baseball’s greats. The series includes Babe and Me, Shoeless Joe and Me, Abner and Me, and Sach and Me.

Bobby Baseball by Robert Kimmel Smith. “Baseball is a simple game, people. You catch, you throw, you hit, AND YOU THINK. I will not yell at anyone for making an error. Everyone makes errors. BUT I WILL NOT PUT UP WITH MENTAL MISTAKES!”

Summerland by Michael Chabon (YA) “A baseball game is nothing but a great slow contraption for getting you to pay attention to the cadence of a summer day.” Computer Guru Son is a big fan of Chabon, but I don’t think he’s read this one.