Sports Mystery #01: The Case of the Missing Pitcher

by T.J. Edwards

When Sam, the Smithfield Sonic's star pitcher, disappears, the big game with the Hornets is threatened, and the only clues that Sam's friends have is a bubble gum wrapper, a typewriter ribbon, and... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0590484524
• ISBN13: 9780590484527
• Release Date: January 1995
• Publisher: Scholastic
• Length: 10 Pages
• Weight: 0.12 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.5"
• Age Range: 9 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 4 to 7

Customer Reviews

Juvenile fiction at its' best

This is an example of modern juvenile sports fiction book at its finest. The Sonics baseball team is integrated, both racially and in terms of gender. The girls are described as some of the best players on the team and they work together well. However, on the eve of the game against a very strong team, their star pitcher Sam is absent. They start the game and the team members try to solve the problem while battling against their strong opponents. Finally, after some deep thought and following a few false leads, they learn that some of the members of the other team locked Sam in a closet. Once they confess, Sam is freed and he returns in time to help his team win. One major advantage of this book is that it combines two of the winning formulas for juvenile fiction: sports and mysteries. Furthermore, the mystery part is not one of danger as in Hardy Boys or Nancy Drew. The plot is such that there is no evil; Sam was locked up for as much as a prank as anything else. One of the difficulties of having evil men and danger in juvenile fiction is that the plot must have some form of plausible device where young people can challenge powerful and dangerous adults and triumph. I have told my daughter that this is a book she should consider reading.