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Jake
A ghetto baseball team must find an adult coach in order to stay in the league
155 pages, Hardcover
First published January 28, 1971
22 people want to read
About the author
Alfred Slote
42 books12 followersAlfred Slote (born September 11, 1926) is a children's author known for his numerous sports and space novels. His writing has been described as "making space travel seem as ordinary as piling in the family wagon for a jaunt to McDonald's". Slote's 1991 novel Finding Buck McHenry was adapted into a 2000 television film. He currently resides in Ann Arbor, Michigan.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 26, 2018
This was one of the few children's sports books featuring an African-American lead character, and it did not disappoint.
Jake is a tough, scrappy boy being raised by his Uncle Lenny. He and his teammates are mostly poor kids of all races who just want to play baseball and who need a coach to stay in their league.
I like the fact that the focus wasn't on Jake being black or poor- the main focus was his and his friends wanting to play baseball as a team and that he was their undisputed leader.
Jake is a tough, scrappy boy being raised by his Uncle Lenny. He and his teammates are mostly poor kids of all races who just want to play baseball and who need a coach to stay in their league.
I like the fact that the focus wasn't on Jake being black or poor- the main focus was his and his friends wanting to play baseball as a team and that he was their undisputed leader.
March 3, 2024
Just a great kid’s baseball book written by the master of that genre in the year I was born (1971). Alfred Slote combines childhood innocence and fantasy with life lesson and disappointment.
His main character Jake is an 11 year-old boy who has essentially been orphaned to his 24 year-old uncle. All he cares about is baseball and his eight baseball teammates who together form a juggernaut in the local little league in Central Michigan. Uncle Lenny means well, perhaps, but he’s just unequipped for the role.
The baseball team is loaded with talent but has no room for error with just enough players when they all show up. They are un-coached and much of the plot involves their efforts to find one to replace the catcher’s mother who was just a stand-in.
The book is intended for 9-12 year-olds but I enjoyed it at age 53 because it transported me to those years as I was (and still am) also baseball-crazed. I read at least four of Slote’s other books as a child and I remember him visiting my elementary school in suburban Detroit and giving us a talk. I could tell he was genuine and passionate about his craft and it made me seek him again after all these years.
Recommended for children with any baseball interest and for adults who want to pretend to be children again.
His main character Jake is an 11 year-old boy who has essentially been orphaned to his 24 year-old uncle. All he cares about is baseball and his eight baseball teammates who together form a juggernaut in the local little league in Central Michigan. Uncle Lenny means well, perhaps, but he’s just unequipped for the role.
The baseball team is loaded with talent but has no room for error with just enough players when they all show up. They are un-coached and much of the plot involves their efforts to find one to replace the catcher’s mother who was just a stand-in.
The book is intended for 9-12 year-olds but I enjoyed it at age 53 because it transported me to those years as I was (and still am) also baseball-crazed. I read at least four of Slote’s other books as a child and I remember him visiting my elementary school in suburban Detroit and giving us a talk. I could tell he was genuine and passionate about his craft and it made me seek him again after all these years.
Recommended for children with any baseball interest and for adults who want to pretend to be children again.
December 31, 2012
I only read Alfred Slote's science fiction stuff as a kid, and I forgot about him until ESPN's second 30 on 30 special. I didn't even know he wrote sports stuff. So I looked this book up--and I found it at Northeastern Illinois University.
It led me to some other very good books he wrote. It is a very good book, itself, and overall, I like Slote's sports stuff better than his science fiction, which feels dated and with lessons that are a little more obvious and which takes a while to start as Slote explains what's going on in the world.
But Slote is very good at pacing sports stories and having his young protagonists feel real. And here Jake's uncle is also a protagonist. He wants to balance playing jazz and coaching a talented but underfunded team. Jake gets into trouble with his uncle and also the rival team's sponsor. There's a big game at the end, yes, but it doesn't end as they usually do.
Slote said this was his best and I think it's close between this and Finding Buck McHenry, but it's sad that books like this become obscure. However, it reminded me that old-favorite authors may've had books that slipped through.
And if you saw the ESPN 30-for-30 special and wonder if you should look for this book, yes, do so. It's too bad it isn't more widely available, but who knows. Maybe the publicity will get it reprinted.
It led me to some other very good books he wrote. It is a very good book, itself, and overall, I like Slote's sports stuff better than his science fiction, which feels dated and with lessons that are a little more obvious and which takes a while to start as Slote explains what's going on in the world.
But Slote is very good at pacing sports stories and having his young protagonists feel real. And here Jake's uncle is also a protagonist. He wants to balance playing jazz and coaching a talented but underfunded team. Jake gets into trouble with his uncle and also the rival team's sponsor. There's a big game at the end, yes, but it doesn't end as they usually do.
Slote said this was his best and I think it's close between this and Finding Buck McHenry, but it's sad that books like this become obscure. However, it reminded me that old-favorite authors may've had books that slipped through.
And if you saw the ESPN 30-for-30 special and wonder if you should look for this book, yes, do so. It's too bad it isn't more widely available, but who knows. Maybe the publicity will get it reprinted.
February 24, 2017
Really great young adult novel. Found book after watching ESPN "30 for 30" short about it.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews