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Choosing Up Sides
When preacher's boy Luke Bledsoe steps on a baseball field, he discovers he has real pitching talent. For once, he can be proud of being left-handed. But Reverend Bledsoe believes that the left side is the side of Satan and the baseball field is the Devil's playground. Luke has spent his whole life trying to please his father. Will he choose to give up the game he's come to love-or turn his back on his family?
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
1999 IRA Children's Book Award
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
1999 IRA Children's Book Award
A BCCB Blue Ribbon Book
176 pages, Paperback
First published April 13, 1998
15 people are currently reading
169 people want to read
About the author
John H. Ritter
8 books19 followers Novelist John H. Ritter (born October 31, 1951, in San Pedro, California) grew up in the summer-dry hills east of San Diego. "I grew up in a baseball family," says John. "But we were also a family of musicians and mathematicians, house painters and poets. My dad was a sports writer in Ashtabula, Ohio, who moved the family out west, just before I was born, to become Sports Editor for The San Diego Union."
Growing up in a sparse, mountainous region also helped stretch John's imagination. "Out in that country," he says, "there was a real sense of the spirits who walked the land in the centuries before. And being so cut off from other kids, I roamed the hills a lot, following hawks and eagles, climbing boulders, sitting in Indian caves. Rattlesnakes never bothered us much. But I felt the spirits everywhere. I think my mom, who was part Blackfoot Indian, had a lot to do with that."
When John was only four, however, his mother died of breast cancer, leaving his father to raise four small children on his own. John still recalls his mother and her songs. "One thing I remember about my mom is that she sang to us constantly, making up a song for each of her four children that fit our personalities perfectly. So from her, I got a sense of how to capture a
person's spirit in a lyrical phrase."
Over time, his musical interests continued to grow and in high school, the social commentary of folksinger Bob Dylan inspired him to write his own songs, hoping to pursue a musical career. He was, however, a “wild student,” he admits to English professor Chris Crowe in an interview for The ALAN Review, and was torn between his love of baseball and writing, calling himself both “a high achiever and a rabble rouser,” noting, for example, that in 1969 he was voted Senior Class President and the Senior Class Clown. Teachers did, however, recognize his writing talent, although his work was so often read out loud in class that he also admits to growing complacent and somewhat lazy about having to improve his skills.
At the University of California, San Diego, John studied communications while playing for the UCSD baseball team, all-the-while continuing to write Dylan-style songs. But by his sophomore year, he recalls, “I was anxious to get on with my life. And for the vision I had in mind, college didn’t have much to offer me. I knew I had to walk the streets, touch life, embrace life, gain experience.” So like his literary heroes before him, i.e., Dylan, Jack Kerouac, and Mark Twain, John quit school, taking a job as a painter’s apprentice, and set about traveling the country. He learned to live so cheaply that he could earn enough in three or four months to allow him to travel and write for the rest of the year. He did that for several years, until he married his wife, Cheryl, whom he had met in college, and they had a baby daughter. With a family to support, John needed to work nine months a year, painting houses, but the rest of his time went into writing, an artistic lifestyle he later spotlighted in his song-laden socio-political novel, Under the Baseball Moon.
In 1994, after publishing several short stories, John received the Judy Blume Award and a cash grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for a novel in progress. In 1996, he submitted his manuscript through the Curtis Brown Agency to Philomel Books where it became the first acquisition of junior editor, Michael Green. Since then, Green has risen to become Editorial Director and Publisher of Philomel Books and has edited all six of John’s novels.
In 1999, John’s first novel, Choosing Up Sides, won the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award for Older Readers and was designated an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. This hard-hitting work of ... [To see more of this bio, go to John's website or his Wikipedia entry.]
Growing up in a sparse, mountainous region also helped stretch John's imagination. "Out in that country," he says, "there was a real sense of the spirits who walked the land in the centuries before. And being so cut off from other kids, I roamed the hills a lot, following hawks and eagles, climbing boulders, sitting in Indian caves. Rattlesnakes never bothered us much. But I felt the spirits everywhere. I think my mom, who was part Blackfoot Indian, had a lot to do with that."
When John was only four, however, his mother died of breast cancer, leaving his father to raise four small children on his own. John still recalls his mother and her songs. "One thing I remember about my mom is that she sang to us constantly, making up a song for each of her four children that fit our personalities perfectly. So from her, I got a sense of how to capture a
person's spirit in a lyrical phrase."
Over time, his musical interests continued to grow and in high school, the social commentary of folksinger Bob Dylan inspired him to write his own songs, hoping to pursue a musical career. He was, however, a “wild student,” he admits to English professor Chris Crowe in an interview for The ALAN Review, and was torn between his love of baseball and writing, calling himself both “a high achiever and a rabble rouser,” noting, for example, that in 1969 he was voted Senior Class President and the Senior Class Clown. Teachers did, however, recognize his writing talent, although his work was so often read out loud in class that he also admits to growing complacent and somewhat lazy about having to improve his skills.
At the University of California, San Diego, John studied communications while playing for the UCSD baseball team, all-the-while continuing to write Dylan-style songs. But by his sophomore year, he recalls, “I was anxious to get on with my life. And for the vision I had in mind, college didn’t have much to offer me. I knew I had to walk the streets, touch life, embrace life, gain experience.” So like his literary heroes before him, i.e., Dylan, Jack Kerouac, and Mark Twain, John quit school, taking a job as a painter’s apprentice, and set about traveling the country. He learned to live so cheaply that he could earn enough in three or four months to allow him to travel and write for the rest of the year. He did that for several years, until he married his wife, Cheryl, whom he had met in college, and they had a baby daughter. With a family to support, John needed to work nine months a year, painting houses, but the rest of his time went into writing, an artistic lifestyle he later spotlighted in his song-laden socio-political novel, Under the Baseball Moon.
In 1994, after publishing several short stories, John received the Judy Blume Award and a cash grant from the Society of Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators (SCBWI) for a novel in progress. In 1996, he submitted his manuscript through the Curtis Brown Agency to Philomel Books where it became the first acquisition of junior editor, Michael Green. Since then, Green has risen to become Editorial Director and Publisher of Philomel Books and has edited all six of John’s novels.
In 1999, John’s first novel, Choosing Up Sides, won the International Reading Association Children’s Book Award for Older Readers and was designated an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults. This hard-hitting work of ... [To see more of this bio, go to John's website or his Wikipedia entry.]
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
June 29, 2025
Reading Challenge 2025: 45. Un libro con un personaje zurdo
October 17, 2013
More than five years ago, I reviewed
The Boy Who Saved Baseball
by this author, who is totally not the actor from Three's Company. In that review, I said that I planned to read more of his books in the near future. I was true to my word, but only to the extent that I have had this book and another by the same author on my shelf all these years. It's no reflection on my feelings for baseball fiction (which are generally warm) or for this author (intrigued, respectful). It's just an occupational hazard of being a book junkie whose shelves are jammed two books deep with titles I've been planning to read for ages. So many books, so little time!
One of these days, I'm going to reshelve my Book Trolley reviews by the Hogwarts subject each book pertains to. When I do, it may be easier to understand my reason for including sport-related fiction in the category of things that "if you like J. K. Rowling, you may also like." After all, Quidditch was a subject taught at Hogwarts. And such is the magic of sports that a story about, say, little-league baseball can also be about something much bigger and more powerful. Take this book, for example. It's not really primarily about baseball. It's about prejudice, and the ignorant place it comes from, and the harm it can lead to, and the radical change that must happen to break free of it. The game of baseball is a character in the story that illustrates the author's message about prejudice.
Luke Bledsoe wants to play baseball. He shows early signs of being good at it, good enough to help feed his poor family and to bring happiness to many others. But there seem to be many barriers between Luke and his dream. Really there is only one barrier: his father. A preacher in a very strict sect of Baptists, Luke's dad believes that sports like baseball are a sinful waste of time. And perhaps more importantly, he believes that Luke's left-handedness—including his phenomenal pitching arm—is a mark of evil.
Based on a literal interpretation of a few cherry-picked Bible verses, this belief—which would be described in theological circles as "legalistic"—threatens to smother the joy out of Luke's young life, to prevent him from rising to the strengths he has been blessed with. It's a tragedy that could affect not only Luke himself, but the friends who count on him, the girl who likes him, the family that loves him, maybe even his whole community in Prohibition-era, southern Ohio, where life is hard and enjoyment is precious.
Luke suffers a crisis of conscience. He is torn between the beliefs in which he was brought up and a misgiving that he hasn't been taught the whole truth. He fears his father for his brutal temper (and rightly so), but also admires and finally pities him. He yearns for acceptance. But above all, he struggles to fit the old man's arbitrary prejudice against left-handedness into a worldview increasingly shaped by baseball. What will Luke decide to do? How far will his father go to keep him in line? And what must happen before Luke goes free?
The author's note at the end of this book suggests that the comparison he had in mind was toward the civil rights struggle of the mid-20th century, the struggle against discrimination based on the color of people's skin. Today, the story's theme of prejudice against something one was born with (left-handedness) might be read in light of another issue. The extreme harshness of the Bledsoes' sectarian beliefs could also be taken as an unnecessarily harsh caricature of Christian belief, and a one-sided one at that, since the book depicts no alternative position within Christianity; and the climactic twist of the story, which seems to be the only way out for Luke, seems likewise harsh and terribly convenient.
But I guess it would be too easy for Luke to tell his father what he wanted to do, and see the old man unbend for him; and it wouldn't be making the point the book needs to make, if he simply ran away to live with his sports-writer uncle and lived life his way without caring how his folks felt about it. The agony of Luke's situation, and of people throughout history who have suffered because of irrational prejudice, is that "a way out" isn't enough. A way forward, with courage—versus the cowardice of running away—and with honesty and dignity, is much harder to find. And maybe there is no way to get there by gentle persuasion. But to stand up for yourself, even against a brutal father, and yet still to be a dutiful, brave, and honest son... the dilemma could not be less painful than what Luke experiences.
One thing you'll wish this book had more of, is baseball. In spite of its title, there is only one brief scene in which boys in a baseball scrimmage choose up sides. But then, it's a title with at least a double meaning: the best kind. Luke stumbles on the knowledge of his pitching ability by accident, and only gets a few brief opportunities to enjoy it, before events in the story put his baseball career on hold—temporarily. He gets to see Babe Ruth play in a benefit game. He gets his name in the newspaper. Other than that, Luke's baseball greatness is all in the future for him. Readers will wish him well. But while this is a promising first novel by this author of baseball-themed, teen fiction, you'll have to look up some of his later titles for more of a baseball fix. Some of them include Fenway Fever and Under the Baseball Moon.
One of these days, I'm going to reshelve my Book Trolley reviews by the Hogwarts subject each book pertains to. When I do, it may be easier to understand my reason for including sport-related fiction in the category of things that "if you like J. K. Rowling, you may also like." After all, Quidditch was a subject taught at Hogwarts. And such is the magic of sports that a story about, say, little-league baseball can also be about something much bigger and more powerful. Take this book, for example. It's not really primarily about baseball. It's about prejudice, and the ignorant place it comes from, and the harm it can lead to, and the radical change that must happen to break free of it. The game of baseball is a character in the story that illustrates the author's message about prejudice.
Luke Bledsoe wants to play baseball. He shows early signs of being good at it, good enough to help feed his poor family and to bring happiness to many others. But there seem to be many barriers between Luke and his dream. Really there is only one barrier: his father. A preacher in a very strict sect of Baptists, Luke's dad believes that sports like baseball are a sinful waste of time. And perhaps more importantly, he believes that Luke's left-handedness—including his phenomenal pitching arm—is a mark of evil.
Based on a literal interpretation of a few cherry-picked Bible verses, this belief—which would be described in theological circles as "legalistic"—threatens to smother the joy out of Luke's young life, to prevent him from rising to the strengths he has been blessed with. It's a tragedy that could affect not only Luke himself, but the friends who count on him, the girl who likes him, the family that loves him, maybe even his whole community in Prohibition-era, southern Ohio, where life is hard and enjoyment is precious.
Luke suffers a crisis of conscience. He is torn between the beliefs in which he was brought up and a misgiving that he hasn't been taught the whole truth. He fears his father for his brutal temper (and rightly so), but also admires and finally pities him. He yearns for acceptance. But above all, he struggles to fit the old man's arbitrary prejudice against left-handedness into a worldview increasingly shaped by baseball. What will Luke decide to do? How far will his father go to keep him in line? And what must happen before Luke goes free?
The author's note at the end of this book suggests that the comparison he had in mind was toward the civil rights struggle of the mid-20th century, the struggle against discrimination based on the color of people's skin. Today, the story's theme of prejudice against something one was born with (left-handedness) might be read in light of another issue. The extreme harshness of the Bledsoes' sectarian beliefs could also be taken as an unnecessarily harsh caricature of Christian belief, and a one-sided one at that, since the book depicts no alternative position within Christianity; and the climactic twist of the story, which seems to be the only way out for Luke, seems likewise harsh and terribly convenient.
But I guess it would be too easy for Luke to tell his father what he wanted to do, and see the old man unbend for him; and it wouldn't be making the point the book needs to make, if he simply ran away to live with his sports-writer uncle and lived life his way without caring how his folks felt about it. The agony of Luke's situation, and of people throughout history who have suffered because of irrational prejudice, is that "a way out" isn't enough. A way forward, with courage—versus the cowardice of running away—and with honesty and dignity, is much harder to find. And maybe there is no way to get there by gentle persuasion. But to stand up for yourself, even against a brutal father, and yet still to be a dutiful, brave, and honest son... the dilemma could not be less painful than what Luke experiences.
One thing you'll wish this book had more of, is baseball. In spite of its title, there is only one brief scene in which boys in a baseball scrimmage choose up sides. But then, it's a title with at least a double meaning: the best kind. Luke stumbles on the knowledge of his pitching ability by accident, and only gets a few brief opportunities to enjoy it, before events in the story put his baseball career on hold—temporarily. He gets to see Babe Ruth play in a benefit game. He gets his name in the newspaper. Other than that, Luke's baseball greatness is all in the future for him. Readers will wish him well. But while this is a promising first novel by this author of baseball-themed, teen fiction, you'll have to look up some of his later titles for more of a baseball fix. Some of them include Fenway Fever and Under the Baseball Moon.
April 14, 2009
I found this book in the Teen section of our library and thought the cover was very interesting. I'm so glad I picked it up because it's a great read. Luke comes from a time and background that frowns on anyone who is left handed. Considered evil, Luke's father forces him to use his right hand and won't let his family have anything to do with sports. The problem is, Luke IS left handed and he's found out he's finding baseball not only fun to watch, but he's a natural pitcher. Forced to decide whether he should follow his strict father, or go the path of a limitless future, Luke has to make drastic choices quickly. A great ending that you'll never expect, I think any age will enjoy this read.
November 8, 2008
Absolutely great book! I was completely surprised. I started to read it to get it off my shelf, prepared to put it down when I was swept away in a marvelous story about a boy courageously and morally trying to make sense out of the spiritual abuse he is suffering. The main character was so believable and true to life. The story is not just another sports book, in fact very little to do with sports, but a deep dive into characters, motivation, and trying to find your way in life. It will stay with me for a long time.
July 12, 2013
While the allegory of this story is not without merit, the overall book fell flat. The harshness of the adult characters made it so that determining an appropriate age group for this book difficult.
January 31, 2019
Marcel Droguett
Choosing Up Sides
1/30/2019
Main character Luke Bledsoe is born in a priest's family as a left-hander. However, his father believes that the left side is the side of Satan, left is the side of all evil, and forbids him from using it at all.
He has constantly been forced to move from town to town his entire life. One day he and his family settle down in Ohio and Luke discovers that he has an incredible throw...with his left arm. The local baseball team is impressed and encourages him to join their team as their pitcher. Luke is tempted to join but is fearful of his father’s words on the left side, not to mention he also sees sports as the “Devil’s Playground”.
Will Luke be able to confront his father? Will he finally be able to live the normal live he’s wished for so long? Or will his will he regret even considering it as it strictly goes against the word of God his family has obeyed for as long as he can remember?
John does an outstanding job at portraying the struggle that Luke goes through the entire story, as well as the character development and interactions between them. From looking up to his uncle and talking to the girl he likes, you can clearly see the effort that was put into these conversations and making them feel as authentic as possible. And not to spoil much, but the ending to this book was very different than what I expected out of a book like this yet it was still executed so perfectly that I had to go back and reread the last 10 pages to double-check!
In conclusion, if you want to read a book that will attach you to it’s conflicting story and amazing characters, then I cannot emphasize how much you should give this title a shot. However, if you are wanting to check out a classic baseball story, then I cannot recommend this to you. It features very few elements related to it but it is still enough to attract fans of the sport.
I rate this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars, absolutely worth giving a read.
Choosing Up Sides
1/30/2019
Main character Luke Bledsoe is born in a priest's family as a left-hander. However, his father believes that the left side is the side of Satan, left is the side of all evil, and forbids him from using it at all.
He has constantly been forced to move from town to town his entire life. One day he and his family settle down in Ohio and Luke discovers that he has an incredible throw...with his left arm. The local baseball team is impressed and encourages him to join their team as their pitcher. Luke is tempted to join but is fearful of his father’s words on the left side, not to mention he also sees sports as the “Devil’s Playground”.
Will Luke be able to confront his father? Will he finally be able to live the normal live he’s wished for so long? Or will his will he regret even considering it as it strictly goes against the word of God his family has obeyed for as long as he can remember?
John does an outstanding job at portraying the struggle that Luke goes through the entire story, as well as the character development and interactions between them. From looking up to his uncle and talking to the girl he likes, you can clearly see the effort that was put into these conversations and making them feel as authentic as possible. And not to spoil much, but the ending to this book was very different than what I expected out of a book like this yet it was still executed so perfectly that I had to go back and reread the last 10 pages to double-check!
In conclusion, if you want to read a book that will attach you to it’s conflicting story and amazing characters, then I cannot emphasize how much you should give this title a shot. However, if you are wanting to check out a classic baseball story, then I cannot recommend this to you. It features very few elements related to it but it is still enough to attract fans of the sport.
I rate this book a solid 4 out of 5 stars, absolutely worth giving a read.
October 29, 2021
I finally, finally, FINALLY found the title of this book I read it when I was in 8th grade (circa 2006), so it's been quite a while, but I still remember it once in a while, just not the title and I didn't pay much attention to author names way back then.
I'll be honest, there's a lot about this book I don't remember, but I do remember enjoying it when I read it for school.
From what I can remember, the book follows Luke struggles with being his own person versus the expectation of his overly-strict father, who happens to be a preacher and I enjoyed watching Luke's character growth throughout the book.
I would definitely recommend for any middle school summer reading lists or if you get to choose your own accelerated reader book. Wait, is that even still a thing now?... Anyway, good book, not the most memorable, but I did like it at the time.
I'll be honest, there's a lot about this book I don't remember, but I do remember enjoying it when I read it for school.
From what I can remember, the book follows Luke struggles with being his own person versus the expectation of his overly-strict father, who happens to be a preacher and I enjoyed watching Luke's character growth throughout the book.
I would definitely recommend for any middle school summer reading lists or if you get to choose your own accelerated reader book. Wait, is that even still a thing now?... Anyway, good book, not the most memorable, but I did like it at the time.
October 22, 2017
Something I liked about choosing up sides was that it's not like most books. Luke had to live his life backwards and wasn't allowed to do everything the other kids could do, in some other books they can do whatever they want without there being consequences. Another thing I liked about this book was they added a girl who does some great things throughout the book, she's really determined and confident which makes the girls reading book feel determined and confident. Something I disliked about the book was the ending, the ending of this book didn’t really give me closure and I don't really know why I guess I was hoping for a miracle to happen. Another thing that I disliked about this book is how Pa treated Luke, his uncle treated him more like a son than his Pa did.
October 18, 2017
Somethings I liked about this book is how Luke communicates with all of his friends and family, I also like how he has a great bound with uncle Micah, Another thing I liked is how quickly Luke made new friends and became a great friend, another thing I liked is how Luke chooses for himself and wants to play baseball and stands up for himself, Some things I didn’t like are how pa treats Luke and uncle Micah, I also dislike how pa gets angry with Luke instead of helping him choose right, Also i don’t like how Luke wants to just give on somethings
October 23, 2017
Morgan Sheets
Choosing Up Sides
10/18/17
I really did like the book Choosing Up Sides. I think it is a really good book to teach you to have confidence in yourself. It also gives really good examples of how people can change for the good and change for the bad. Some parts I really didn’t like choosing up sides because it made me feel very sad and I really don't like to be sad. But overall I really loved this book for all it was worth. I would rate it five out of five stars.
Choosing Up Sides
10/18/17
I really did like the book Choosing Up Sides. I think it is a really good book to teach you to have confidence in yourself. It also gives really good examples of how people can change for the good and change for the bad. Some parts I really didn’t like choosing up sides because it made me feel very sad and I really don't like to be sad. But overall I really loved this book for all it was worth. I would rate it five out of five stars.
February 15, 2018
I think Choosing Up Sides was a really great inspirational book for me I honestly recommend it to anyone who loves baseball. This book made me realize a lot of things as the moment that I finished it.
August 29, 2019
I liked it in that it presented a conflict and resolution with the main character. And it's interesting to learn how far someone will go for what they believe in.
Don't think of this as a book about baseball or sports...but rather, about how one finds his true self and come to terms with himself.
Don't think of this as a book about baseball or sports...but rather, about how one finds his true self and come to terms with himself.
October 10, 2021
What a great book for higher achieving 6th - 8th graders. This would definitely appeal more to boys, but I think the girls would also buy into it. Great storyline and so many opportunities for classroom discussion.
November 27, 2017
This book is about baseball and it has a lot of plot twists in it will I recommend this book to people that love baseball. (Not for a school bookmark).
September 21, 2019
Charming little story about baseball from the golden age.
January 20, 2020
Loved this book the whole way through but hated the ending!
March 13, 2020
I like the writing style of the author but some chapters make me fall asleep immediately maybe because I'm excited to see Luke pitching inside the diamond .
May 24, 2020
Good book!! Love the characters
August 5, 2021
I've heard if Christian's being against being left handed un the past but never I'd them being against baseball.
January 31, 2024
I luv, luv, this book.
June 21, 2024
Found this at a little free library at Chapman state park. Unexpected and questionable ending
June 4, 2025
Historical fiction, featuring bias against left handedness.
Baseball book …
Baseball book …
October 23, 2017
In choosing up sides I liked how it told me the backround story of how Luke grew up. I liked how it had uncle Micah kind of take on the role of Luke's dad. I did not like how rude Pa was in the middle of the book when he hurt Luke. I feel like it made it seem that all dads are mean and disrespectful. Overall I thought the book could have been better.
May 14, 2009
Best Books for Young Adults: Sports
This is a story set back in the 1920's about a boy named Luke Bledsoe who is the son of a preacher. His father is very strict who doesn't believe that it is acceptable to write with your left hand, a sin to dance and play sports. They move around a lot and the Bledsoe family finds themselves in a small southern Ohio town by the Ohio River. The family is reacquainted with Luke's Uncle Micah who is viewed as the sinner of all sinner with his parents. Uncle Micah takes Luke to his first professional baseball game and challenges Luke to start thinking for himself and to question his Father's teaching. Luke decides to take up the invitations to joining a baseball league and begins pitching with his left hand. He is hooked on the sport and doesn't believe that what he is doing is sinful. Luke finally talks to his Father and the conversation of course doesn't go well and unfortunately that night an accident occurs. Luke's father falls into the river and Luke is unable to save him. Luke has to learn how to move on with his life accepting that he did his best to save him and to accept what he cannot change.
What will appeal to students is the story line of a teenager questioning their upbringing. The fact that the story revolves around baseball will hopefully give more appeal to boys. The characters are very believable because it is about a preteen who is trying to find his way and challenge the one person who he challenged by. I would promote this story by either pushing the storyline of growing up and challenging parental guidance or I would push it by the fact that it is about baseball. It would depend on my audience.
3Q
3P
M,J
This is a story set back in the 1920's about a boy named Luke Bledsoe who is the son of a preacher. His father is very strict who doesn't believe that it is acceptable to write with your left hand, a sin to dance and play sports. They move around a lot and the Bledsoe family finds themselves in a small southern Ohio town by the Ohio River. The family is reacquainted with Luke's Uncle Micah who is viewed as the sinner of all sinner with his parents. Uncle Micah takes Luke to his first professional baseball game and challenges Luke to start thinking for himself and to question his Father's teaching. Luke decides to take up the invitations to joining a baseball league and begins pitching with his left hand. He is hooked on the sport and doesn't believe that what he is doing is sinful. Luke finally talks to his Father and the conversation of course doesn't go well and unfortunately that night an accident occurs. Luke's father falls into the river and Luke is unable to save him. Luke has to learn how to move on with his life accepting that he did his best to save him and to accept what he cannot change.
What will appeal to students is the story line of a teenager questioning their upbringing. The fact that the story revolves around baseball will hopefully give more appeal to boys. The characters are very believable because it is about a preteen who is trying to find his way and challenge the one person who he challenged by. I would promote this story by either pushing the storyline of growing up and challenging parental guidance or I would push it by the fact that it is about baseball. It would depend on my audience.
3Q
3P
M,J
November 16, 2008
I quite enjoy reading books about religion conflicting with lives, and this book was no exception. Through quality writing and a vivid voice, Ritter explores the real meaning of prejudice, and what it does to us. Luke, the protagonist, is 13 and has just moved to Ohio with his mother, father, (who is an extremely devout Baptist preacher) and sister. Luke and his father don't exactly get along, even though Baptists aren't allowed to fight-Luke is left-handed, which is the "Devil's hand". What's more, Luke wants to play baseball ("Devil's Playground") and his best friend is a girl (who he's supposed to stay away from). In the beginning, Luke tries to follow what his father wants for him, but then he realizes that intividuality is not a sin, and that we've only got one life to live. But the end is not all happiness and laughter, and the father is really a scary character.
July 10, 2011
Sports Book
Luke, a 13 year-old boy who just moved to a new town in 1921, had a secret, a talent, and a crush throughout the story. His father is a non-apologetic preacher who forbids sports and believes that his son should memorize Biblical verses daily. Luke’s father also believes that anyone who uses his left hand as his dominant hand is doing devil’s work. Luke gets a complex over using his left hand and often feels shame and guilt. Luke is trapped between two worlds; wanting to be a good church parishioner and son, and his desire to play baseball. The author uses descriptive language throughout as well as metaphors and poetic examples. The book is deep and as I was reading certain parts of it I got goose bumps. I didn’t expect a “sports book” to be so suspenseful and emotional at the same time.
Luke, a 13 year-old boy who just moved to a new town in 1921, had a secret, a talent, and a crush throughout the story. His father is a non-apologetic preacher who forbids sports and believes that his son should memorize Biblical verses daily. Luke’s father also believes that anyone who uses his left hand as his dominant hand is doing devil’s work. Luke gets a complex over using his left hand and often feels shame and guilt. Luke is trapped between two worlds; wanting to be a good church parishioner and son, and his desire to play baseball. The author uses descriptive language throughout as well as metaphors and poetic examples. The book is deep and as I was reading certain parts of it I got goose bumps. I didn’t expect a “sports book” to be so suspenseful and emotional at the same time.
September 19, 2013
I happened to pick this book up one day just to see what kind of young adult literature was out there. I really liked the book. It is a book to make a kid start thinking for himself and not always "assume" that what adults tell them is the truth. Everyone learns from others, but individually we have to make our own way. That is what this book is about, a kid who loves his father, respects him and his teachings, but realizes that sometimes an adult can be wrong. This book also shows how trusting kids are with their parents and how others "outside" the family circle can have an effect on them and their beliefs. The ending is bittersweet. If you get this book for your child to read, make sure that you talk about it with them afterwards.
March 3, 2015
This book was a interesting story of pure god given talent. Luke is the son of a preacher who is against any type of sports. He has just moved to Ohio because of his father's job. He was walking home from school when he saw a baseball field full of kids practicing as a team. Luke stopped to watch when the kid up to bat hit a rocket right towards Luke. All of the kids are yelling at him to throw the ball in. So Luke picks the ball up and throws it from right field . The ball soars over the catchers head. After that kids on the team wanted him to play on the team. But his father is against all sports. Will Luke go against his father's permission and join the team or will he stay away from baseball forever?
February 21, 2010
this book is ok,its just mainly on how the kids dad is a crazy/control freak/preacher who thinks that people that r left handed r the 'devils kids' instead of 'gods kids'. The bad prt is that his kid is lefthanded, so the dad has been trying to make him right handed,even if it means breaking his left hand, which eventually he does, with the belt. Oh and the kid cant also play baseball even tough he has a really good hand,the left one that is. So towards the end the dad falls into a river after fighting w/ his kid, and then the kid cant save him because he has a left broken hand thanks to his crazy dad..the dad dies.HIS FAULT!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 27, 2016
This is a book about a left-handed boy who loves baseball, but is is not allowed by his father or his religion to be left-handed or play baseball. I appreciated the story of becoming your own person & realizing your own passion and talent. I was not sold on the way the author presented the story. My daughter read this in her 6th grade class and I thought she loved it, but when I was about 1/2 way & I asked her about it she said that it was not a book that she would recommend. It was fine, but I guess I wouldn't highly recommend it either.
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