  | Soar Author: Bauer, Joan | |
| Price: $6.50 | ||
Summary:
Moving to Hillcrest, Ohio, when his adoptive father accepts a temporary job, twelve-year-old Jeremiah, a heart transplant recipient, has sixty days to find a baseball team to coach.
| Accelerated Reader Information: Interest Level: MG Reading Level: 3.60 Points: 6.0 Quiz: 178915 | Reading Counts Information: Interest Level: 6-8 Reading Level: 3.10 Points: 12.0 Quiz: 67913 | |
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews (+) (12/01/15)
School Library Journal (02/01/16)
Booklist (+) (12/15/15)
The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books (00/02/16)
Full Text Reviews:
Booklist - 12/15/2015 *Starred Review* Twelve-year-old Jeremiah is a baseball fanatic with two strikes against him: as a baby he was a foundling, and when he was 10, he had a heart transplant, which means he can’t play baseball. Fortunately, he has a wonderful adoptive father, and now that they have moved to a new town, Jeremiah is determined to coach his middle school’s baseball team, the Muskrats—which is only sort of a team since their coach was fired and there are not currently enough kids to fill the positions. But Jeremiah’s energy is infectious, and soon he has gathered the right players. Then the town’s varsity team is visited by scandal, and the town begins to lose faith in the sport. Perhaps Jeremiah has enough faith to make up for it? He renames the team the Eagles, and, indeed, they start to soar, though Jeremiah’s problematic health remains a hurdle. Bauer’s latest feel-good novel is distinguished by a largehearted warmth, its able characterizations, a page-turning plot, and winning humor. If Jeremiah sometimes seems too old and wise for his years, few readers will care. They will be too busy rooting for the Eagles . . . and their coach. - Copyright 2015 Booklist.
School Library Journal - 02/01/2016 Gr 4–6—Sports, friendship, tragedy, and a love connection are all wrapped up in one heartwarming, page-turning story. Jeremiah lives and breathes baseball and wants nothing more than to be a professional player, but when he learns that he suffers from a severe heart condition, his dreams are put on hold. Soon after he and his single father move to a town that is something of a baseball capital, the entire community is shaken by the death of a beloved school baseball player—and a town scandal that is revealed in the aftermath. Jeremiah finds himself coaching and bringing baseball back to the local middle school and ends up motivating the entire town. When he and his father are faced with having to leave their new town behind, Jeremiah has to deal with the possibility of also leaving his heart in the very place that helped to make it stronger. This coming-of-age tale features a boy who is courageous and witty; readers—baseball fans or otherwise—will cheer on Jeremiah and this team. VERDICT The latest middle grade novel from this award-winning author is triumphant and moving.—Nikitia Wilson, Convent of the Sacred Heart School Library, New York City - Copyright 2016 Publishers Weekly, Library Journal and/or School Library Journal used with permission.
