by John R. Tunis
I read The Kid From Tomkonsville by John R.Tunis. It is a great book. And I would like to tell you all about this book.
This book is about a boy who is called up to the major leagues. He was being brought up to one of he worst teams in the league, the Brooklyn Dodgers. He begins to realize what it's like to play at the major league level. But when his best friend on the team is released, he is left in pain and disbelief. He keeps playing and keeps on fighting. And he still hasn't seen the worst! He takes a hard fall on his pitching arm and is put on the Disabled List. And to top it off, Gabby, the team coach, dies! Finally, things brightened up. Dave Leonard comes back to coach the baseball team because o.f Gabby's death. He became much more confident in himself than without Dave. As a last place team, they start to make a run for the top. They win two out of three very critical games that determined who would play the Yankees in the World Series. When they won their second game, people came onto the field in celebration. There were mobs of people.
What I liked about this book was the way the author went into such good detail when it was needed. He never wrote excess things that didn't need to be there. The other thing I liked was all the struggle throughout the book. He made things happen that made the story much more interesting and easy to get hooked on.
I think the message to this book was a couple of different things. The first one is that you should never underestimate a person or a team. The Dodgers were underestimated and but had a great year. The other message was not to give up no matter what. The Dodgers were a bad ball club but they still worked through it all and made something out of themselves.
Reviewed by Collin 9/02