Product Description

A straight-talking, fourteen-year-old first baseman, benched by mono, decides to take a swing at writing poetry in Ron Koertge’s clever, compelling novel written in free verse.

"Their pitcher walks our leadoff man. Greg moves him up to second with a perfect sacrifice. Fabian loops one into right.

I’m up. Two on, one out. I’m the cleanup man. My job is to bring these guys home."

MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won’t be seeing a baseball field for a while, and he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad’s den. Before Kevin knows it, he’s writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What’s the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing - about the smart-talking Latina girl who thinks poets are cool, even about his mother, whose death is a still-tender loss for which he finally finds the words.

Written in free verse with examples of several poetic forms slipped into the mix, including a sonnet, haiku, pastoral, and even a pantoum, this funny, poignant story by a master of dialogue is an English teacher’s dream - sure to hook poetry lovers, baseball fanatics, mono recoverers, and everyone in between.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #142510 in Books
• Published on: 2006-02-14
• Released on: 2006-02-14
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 128 pages

From School Library Journal
Grade 6-9-Like his earlier The Brimstone Journals (Candlewick, 2001), Koertge writes this novel in highly accessible free verse. Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland is an MVP first baseman whose whole life revolves around baseball. Diagnosed with mono, he is forced to stay at home for months while he recuperates. Bored, Kevin borrows his father's book of poetry and starts writing his own. At first, he just has fun imitating haiku and sonnets, but he soon begins writing insightful verse, both funny and serious, in which he records his candid observations about life in junior high, romance, his dreams of baseball stardom, and his grief over the recent death of his mother. This funny and poignant novel celebrates the power of writing to help young people make sense of their lives and unlock and confront their problems. The cover will lead readers to believe that this is about baseball, but they will quickly realize there is much, much more to this finely crafted story.
Edward Sullivan, White Pine School, TN
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist
Gr. 7-10. Koertge has written a standout among the growing number of young adult novels told through verse. Faced with months at home because of a bout of mono, 14-year-old Kevin Boland begins to write poems, using a book from his father's collection to guide him. He writes about such things as the recent death of his mother, his love of baseball, and his make-out sessions with girls. When he recovers, he continues his writing habit and finds a new girlfriend, experimenting with different forms of poetry along the way, including free verse, haiku, sonnets, ballads, and even a sestina. Koertge does an excellent job of creating the authentic voice of a teenage boy exclusively through poems. The poems are funny, touching, and always energetic, and they show both Kevin's growing love for poetry and his struggles as a writer. Several of his attempts at difficult forms break apart in the middle, and some poems have rough edges, giving an extra dose of realism to the somewhat artificial concept of the book. Readers will find themselves identifying with Kevin and perhaps come to understand his attraction to poetry. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

From the Author
RON KOERTGE: "I find it funny that kids will willingly follow the rules in any game, but if you give them rules for writing poetry, they rebel!"

Customer Reviews

Easy to Enjoy
Although I never thought of myself as a fan of poetry or novels in verse, I have to admit this genre is growing on me.

When Kevin is forced to stay in bed for a month with mono, the prospect of missing out on baseballs games and hanging out with his friends does not excite him. But when he casually starts writing some words down on a page, and secretly borrows one of his writer father's poetry guides the exile starts to become more bearable. He slowly recovers, all the time writing about the death of his mother, past and present loves and his discovery of a whole new way of expressing himself.

If I had to describe this book in three words it would be 'short and sweet'. It's fun and cheerful (although I have to admit I didn't "get" the title until I was finished reading it).

Shakespeare Bats Cleanup
Shakespeare Bats Cleanup is a funny, breezy, cute book. I don't think it relies as much on the themes of baseball, or even poetry, as it does on the theme of young love. Occasionally this theme becomes inappropriate as he writes poems about making out with girls in the bamboo forest and, in a sick metaphor, reaching Home Base.

Nevertheless, Shakespeare Bats Cleanup will cast a sort of spell over you. Well worth a read.

Book Review
This book follows the life of a kid at the age of fourteen. He is diagnosed with Mono and is but in bed for the remainder of the school year. He finds a poetry book in his Fathers collection and starts testing his own skills out. He tries Pastoral, using couplets, a sestina, and blank verse to name a few. Koertge formed his character through different kinds of poetry and I believe does and amazing job. After the first few poems you really start seeing this character come to life. I would recommend this book to any reader.