Holding at Third: A Novel

by Linda Zinnen

Thirteen-year-old Matt Bainter is a crack centerfielder and the middle child in a large family. This baseball season, he has more at stake than ever before. If he does everything right, he bargains, his older brother Tom will survive bone cancer. While Tom undergoes treatment, Matt has to cope with the sacrifices that come with living in a new town and playing on a different—and far inferior—baseball team. He can’t admit to himself that Tom might die, and he can’t face his own rage about having his life uprooted, especially when he falls into a serious batting slump. With the help of his tough coach, Matt eventually owns up to his feelings, and by the end of the story both he and Tom are holding at third, on their way to home plate. Terrific baseball action, humor, and a gang of thoroughly original characters make this a novel as unforgettable as it is unsentimental.

160 pages, Hardcover

First published February 9, 2004

Reviews

[Anthony Velez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Matt is a teenager who plays baseball. His brother tommy has cancer and to watch over his brother he has to transfer to a whole different middle school to watch over his brother so matt alows that to be a motivation for him and he lets it push him to do bigger and better things. I suggest this book to anyone from the age of 9 and up who likes sports books its a great book with alot of descriptive details anyone who likes that this a perfect book for them.

[H · Rating 3 out of 5]

A book that probably would appeal at first glance to boys who like to read sports books, grades 5-8. Matt is a center fielder and batsman who moves with his mom and older brother temporarily as 19 year old Tom goes through cancer treatments. Slim and quickly read, I'm afraid it lacks good play-by-play action, though kids may be drawn quickly into its story of a boy whose "everything is just fine" optimism finally falters in the face of his brother's increasingly desperate fight against illness. Sonnenblick did it better in Drums, Girls and Dangerous Pie, but Zinnen's ambiguous ending might be more true.

[Kristi Bell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was just ok, in my opinion. The play by play baseball writing was hard to follow. I felt sad for the main character, Matt, because his brother had cancer and he had to move to a different house and school to accommodate his brother's last resort treatment.

This is a juvenile book that has a reading level of 4.8. There is a lot of taking God's name in vain and a reference to fooling around. It is an easy read and I read it in a few hours.

[LS · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is good dont want to give hints