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My Horrible Secret
With the prospect of Camp Hit-a-Homer looming before him, eleven-year-old Warren, whose older brother is a super athlete, resorts to desperate measures to hide the fact that he can neither throw nor catch a ball.
128 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1983
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 14, 2025
“My Horrible Secret” is a 1986 Charlie May Simon Award winning children’s book written by Stephen Roos and illustrated by Carol Nelson. The first edition book was published by Dell Publishing’s Yearling Books in 1983.
The book features Warren Fingler who is an 11-year-old 5th grade student, and Warren’s brother Roger is a high school student and an exceptional baseball player. Warren has great difficulty understanding how to play baseball and how to cope with Roger’s athletic popularity. Warren cannot throw or even catch a baseball. His baseball difficulties is a secret he does not discuss with anyone. To overcome his struggles of playing team sports Warren decides to become a horse-riding jockey. While taking instructions in horse riding, his teacher’s horse “Spitfire” bucks him off her back. When Warren hits the ground, he suffers three left arm bone breaks, and he also has a concussion. After his hospitalization he returns to school where he was embraced by his classmates. His brother Roger and an exceptional young female athlete Claire Van Kemp help sponsor a fund-raising baseball contest to raise money for restoring an historic statue in a city park. They sell tickets to event where Claire’s baseball team takes on Roger’s team. In the last inning of the ballgame Roger puts his brother into the game to play right field; and Warren makes an awesome play catching Claire’s last at fly ball while crashing into the fence. The crash “knocks him out. He is hospitalized and quickly recovers. His catch allowed Roger and his team to win not only the game but to also donate the money from game ticket sales to win the fund-raising contest for the park restoration initiative. I enjoyed reading this wonderful award-winning book very much. (P)
The book features Warren Fingler who is an 11-year-old 5th grade student, and Warren’s brother Roger is a high school student and an exceptional baseball player. Warren has great difficulty understanding how to play baseball and how to cope with Roger’s athletic popularity. Warren cannot throw or even catch a baseball. His baseball difficulties is a secret he does not discuss with anyone. To overcome his struggles of playing team sports Warren decides to become a horse-riding jockey. While taking instructions in horse riding, his teacher’s horse “Spitfire” bucks him off her back. When Warren hits the ground, he suffers three left arm bone breaks, and he also has a concussion. After his hospitalization he returns to school where he was embraced by his classmates. His brother Roger and an exceptional young female athlete Claire Van Kemp help sponsor a fund-raising baseball contest to raise money for restoring an historic statue in a city park. They sell tickets to event where Claire’s baseball team takes on Roger’s team. In the last inning of the ballgame Roger puts his brother into the game to play right field; and Warren makes an awesome play catching Claire’s last at fly ball while crashing into the fence. The crash “knocks him out. He is hospitalized and quickly recovers. His catch allowed Roger and his team to win not only the game but to also donate the money from game ticket sales to win the fund-raising contest for the park restoration initiative. I enjoyed reading this wonderful award-winning book very much. (P)
July 27, 2025
This is the first book by Stephen Roos centering on these typical kids in a typical American town. It was really fun getting to know Warren and his family. Great book! Great story. Love seeing Warren overcome his fear and grow. Reading these books from this time period really makes me nostalgic.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews