Baseball Card Crazy

The first--and immensely entertaining--collaboration by this mother and son writing team introduces Oliver O'Malley, a congenial fifth-grader who is an avid collector of baseball cards. Oliver listens in awe as his father describes some of the valuable cards he owned as a boy in the late '50s and early '60s. But much to Oliver's dismay, his father can't remember what happened to his prized collection. During a summer visit to his paternal grandparents' farm, Oliver is determined to find it. The boy is devastated when a search of the attic, basement and an abandoned clubhouse uncovers not a single card, but his quest has the expected happy ending. Though the novel's action has only a single focus, Kennedy and Schodorf (an eighth-grader) have turned out a snappy, believable first-person narrative that youngsters will latch on to eagerly--even if they don't know who Whitey Ford or Ted Williams are. Although the book's typeface is small, its brevity, subject matter and vocabulary make it suitable for proficient readers a bit younger than the target audience. Ages 9-11. (Feb.)