Weekend Reviews

Elizabeth Ward features baseball books in honor of spring and the baseball season in her "For Young Readers Column" (Washington Post). This year has seen a number of baseball titles and Ward takes a look at the most notable. They are:

• Samurai Shortstop, by Alan Gratz. This one has been getting a lot of good reviews this year. I may even have to read it, even though it is about baseball. In any case, Ward writes, it's "a page-turner that's as much about history as baseball."
• Under the Baseball Moon, by John H. Ritter ("quirkier," "refreshing")
• Two Hot Dogs with Everything, by Paul Haven ("a sweet, subtle yarn")

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In the completely unrelated to children's literature department... a fascinating article on the deep structures of writing systems of the world.