The Batboy

From the #1 New York Times bestseller Mike Lupica comes the story of baseball's unsung hero: The Batboy It is every baseball kid’s dream summer job: batboy for your hometown Major League team. Yet for fourteen year- old Brian, the job means more than just the chance to hang around his idols. Baseball was the job his father loved so much, in the end he couldn’t leave it. Yet he could leave his family. Now Brian sees the job as the way to win back his father. There is no winning back some people, though. Just ask Hank Bishop—once the most popular player in baseball before he was banned for using steroids. Now he is making his comeback. And an unlikely friendship slowly develops between this man in need of a family and this boy in need of a father. Mike Lupica, king of the sports novel, delivers his most powerful and kid-friendly to date. “A pennant winner.” –Kirkus Reviews   “Lupica. . .giv[es] his readers a behind-the-scenes look at major league sports. In this novel, he adds genuine insights into family dynamics and the emotional state of his hero.” –Booklist   “[T]his novel will undoubtedly appeal to those who equate summer with baseball, it should also win over readers who appreciate finely crafted storytelling and engaging characters.” –School Library Journal