Stranger on the Ball Club

by Alfred Slote

Trying hard to adjust to a new town, Tim wants to return the expensive baseball glove he found before the real owner accuses him of stealing it.

Paperback

First published January 1, 1970

About the author

Alfred 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.

Reviews

[Alexanderm · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this was a good book. It wasn't great but it wasn't bad. What I didn't like about it is that it was to short. It had a good theme but he didn't make it long enough for the story to get really exciting. I was just starting to get into it and the the book ended. Even though it was short it had everything a good book has which is a problem, theme, climax etc.. What I did like about it was the baseball since I love baseball. I think that it made the story better and made it more exciting and competitive.

In the story every baseball team in the town is named after a company. Like the main character Tim’s teams name is the Warren Plumbers. I think this just made the book silly to have weird names like that. I mean if that was the sponsor’s name and not the team’s name it would be okay. What I did like about the book was that Tim steals Tads’ glove and now he doesn't know whether to return it or keep it. I think this shows a realistic situation and how to deal with it. I thought it was a good addition to the story.