The Secret at Haney Field: A Baseball Mystery

by R. M. Clark

Overview

Twelve-year-old April O'Day's summer has gotten off to a flying start! As the daughter of a former minor-leaguer, she really knows baseball. And when she wins the opportunity to be a bat retriever for one week with her hometown's minor league team, she proves it, transforming her seven-day dream job into a summer-long adventure of runs, hits, errors . . . and a mystery to solve.

Baseball-playing shadows are on the field, which only she, her friend Darren, and the team's owner, Mr. Haney, can see. And when April finds one of their shadow balls in the stands, the three are able to witness a 1940s Negro Leagues game.

Who are these players-especially the one they call Flash, a lightning-fast base runner? And why are they at Haney Field? Can Marcus "Mayhem" Mayfield, a veteran of the Negro Leagues as well as the majors, help them solve this mystery? And as facts come into focus, will Mr. Haney try to keep an event from the 1960s hidden under the grandstands?

Find out in this engaging baseball mystery by R. M. Clark.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780991364626
Publisher:	MB Publishing, LLC
Publication date:	09/09/2014
Pages:	136
Sales rank:	339,967
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.29(d)

Editorial Reviews

2014-09-03
Two young baseball buffs stumble onto a mysterious occurrence at a minor league baseball stadium in Clark's (Center Point, 2013, etc.) novel.Fans of baseball history will recall the Negro leagues, the alternative leagues in which African-Americans had to play in the shadows of the major leagues because of a ban on black players. Now, 12-year-old April O'Day, a hard-core baseball fan, is in seventh heaven when she lands a job as the local minor league team's bat girl. Before long, April's not only retrieving bats, but giving advice to the ballplayers on what size/weight bat to use, when to steal, and other counsel based on her knowledge and observations. One day she sees vague images—"shadow players"—playing on the field after the regular game ends. The team owner, Mr. Haney, sees them too and asks April and her best friend, Darren Plummer, to investigate. However, just as the two friends discover that these players are from the Negro leagues, Haney inexplicably forbids the kids from investigating further and fires them. Realizing something strange is afoot, the kids continue their efforts to uncover the truth. While baseball is a passion of his, Clark has his sights set on the deeper issue of racism in general. The book is a well-written Disney-like story—characters do the right thing, and everything is tied up in a neat little bow. The characters are well-drawn and likable, and Clark obviously knows baseball. The story moves quickly, without unnecessary subplots slowing it down, but it unfortunately lacks real historical perspective. Even just a few paragraphs on the tragedies of players like Josh Gibson, Cool Papa Bell, Double-Duty Radcliffe or others—who were forced to display their prodigious talents in subpar circumstances simply because of skin color—may awaken a youngster's understanding of racism's inanity. Still, in a kid's literature market overstuffed with sensitive vampires and magical realms, it's refreshing to see a story that attempts to be something more.A home run, though not a grand slam.

Kirkus Reviews