Little leaguers, batter up!

The great American pastime is in full swing. At almost any ball field in the nation you'll find a baseball game -- many of them for the younger crowd. During their off-field hours, fans and players alike can choose from a great variety of baseball books to read.

Here are a few that hit the strike zone.

• Albert's Ballgame
  By Lelie Tryon
  Atheneum

• All-star Fever
  By Matt Christopher
  Little, Brown

• The Leftover Series:
  Strike Out! and Catch Flies
  By Tristan Howard
  Scholastic

• When Willard Met Babe Ruth
  By Donald Hall
  Browndeer

• All Stars
  One Team, One Season
  By Tim McCarver
  Longstreet

• Count Me In
  By Cal Ripken, Jr. and Greg Brown
  Taylor
  Ages 3-Up

• Red Foley's Best Baseball Book Ever
  Little Simon

For the young adult, these splendid tales
don't have the feel of "kids' books"

My guess is that most adults would be surprised at how truly good middle-aged and young adult novels can be. The best are compelling, honest, heart-wrenching, or mysterious, depending on the tale being told. They don't have the feel of "kids' books" -- they are simply stimulating books whose heroes happen to be children or teenagers.

• SOS Titanic
  By Eve Bunting
  Harcourt Brace
  Ages 12-Up

The drama of modern life

• Step by Wicked Step
  By Anne Fine
  Little, Brown
  Ages 10-Up

• Ribbons
  By Laurence Yep
  Putnam
  Ages 10-14

• Bad Girls
  By Cynthia Voigt
  Scholastic
  Ages 8-12

Screams and silence

• The Other Side of Silence
  By Margaret Mahy
  Viking
  Ages 12-Up

  and

  Cold Shoulder Road
  By Joan Aiken
  Delacorte
  Ages 10-Up

Fantasy

• Outcast of Redwall
  By Brian Jacques
  Philomel
  Ages 8-Up

• The Golden Compass
  By Philip Pullman
  Alfred A. Knopf
  All Ages

Upside down and seeing straight

• Falling Up
  By Shel Silverstein
  HarperCollins

©1996, ProMotion, inc.

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