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Much Ado about Baseball

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What to expect

In this companion novel to Midsummer’s Mayhem, math and baseball combine with savory snacks to cause confusion and calamity in the town of Comity.

Twelve-year-old Trish can solve tough math problems and throw a mean fastball. But because of her mom’s new job, she’s now facing a summer trying to make friends all over again in a new town. That isn’t an easy thing to do, and her mom is too busy to notice how miserable she is.

But at her first baseball practice, Trish realizes one of her teammates is Ben, the sixth-grade math prodigy she beat in the spring Math Puzzler Championships. Everyone around them seems to think that with their math talent and love of baseball, it’s only logical that Trish and Ben become friends, but Ben makes it clear he still hasn’t gotten over that loss and can’t stand her. To make matters worse, their team can’t win a single game. But then they meet Rob, an older kid who smacks home runs without breaking a sweat. Rob tells them about his family’s store, which sells unusual snacks that will make them better ballplayers. Trish is dubious, but she’s willing to try almost anything to help the team.

When a mysterious booklet of math puzzles claiming to reveal the “ultimate answer” arrives in her mailbox, Trish and Ben start to get closer and solve the puzzles together. Ben starts getting hits, and their team becomes unstoppable. Trish is happy to keep riding the wave of good luck … until they get to a puzzle they can’t solve, with tragic consequences. Can they find the answer to this ultimate puzzle, or will they strike out when it counts the most?

Critics Review

u201cBaseball provides energetic context to this story in alternating voices of friends in a lovingly drawn and diverse community. Add magic, numbers, Shakespeare, and lashings of mystery, all seasoned with artful sprinkles of culinary flavor and equal parts humor and heart. Cleverly adjacent to the world of Midsummeru2019s Mayhem, yet standing wonderfully well alone.u201d

Uma Krishnaswami, author of Threads of Peace

u201cItu2019s no mystery why Rajani LaRoccau2019s Much Ado About Baseball is a home run. Like the smell of freshly cut infield grass, this fast-paced story of friendship, fitting in, and finding yourself is filled with magic and math. It pops with baseball excitement and summer days full of possibilities.u201d

David A. Kelly, author of the Ballpark Mysteries series

u201cA moving tale of baseball, magic, and former rivals who come together to solve a problem.u201d

Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
Author Rajani LaRocca
Narrator Ariana Delawari, Eddie Lopez
Duration 7 hours and 10 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781665069946
Format Audiobook
Publisher Blackstone Publishing
Genre Children’s / Teenage fiction: Fantasy, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Sporting stories, Children’s / Teenage fiction: Traditional stories, Children’s / Teenage general interest: Ball games and sports: Baseball and Softball
Availability AU, GB, IE, US

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