Mysterious Reviews, mysteries reviewed by the Hidden Staircase Mystery Books, is publishing a new review of Change-Up by John Feinstein. For our blog readers, we are printing it first here in advance of its publication on our website.
Change-Up by John Feinstein
A Steve and Susan Sports Mystery
Knopf (Hardcover)
ISBN-10: 0-375-85636-6 (0375856366)
ISBN-13: 978-0-375-85636-5 (9780375856365)
Publication Date: August 2009
List Price: $16.99
Review: Anyone who's into baseball only dreams of being a part of the World Series. Well that's one of the many jobs teen reporters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are able to get. Now they are covering the 2009 World Series and it's a matchup between the infamous Red Sox and the underdog Washington Nationals. With this amazing achievement there is bound to be something fishy, but what is it?
The Washington Nationals, the Washington D.C. baseball team, have done the unthinkable. They have made it to the 2009 World Series; their opponent will be the feared Boston Red Sox. In the midst of the partying and commotion, Stevie runs into a man outside of all the happiness. His name is Norbert Doyle, a minor league pitcher who never expected to make it in the majors, let alone the playoffs, and a man still mourning the loss of his wife several years earlier, raising two kids on his own. Stevie thinks a human interest, behind-the-scenes profile would be a great article for his paper. They decided to meet and discuss more when the team arrived in Boston. During their conversation there, the coach came and wanted to speak to Norbert for a bit. So Stevie and Susan talked with Norbert's kids, David and Morra, about how their dad was. Then Norbert came back with a scared expression on his face. He said, "I'm pitching Game 2 of World Series." Stevie then realized he had an even bigger story on his hands than he thought. But as the young reporters looked more and more into Doyle's life they began to wonder whether everything they had heard was true.
This book would be excellent for any sports fan ever or even any boy looking for a good mystery to read. It would be particularly good for boys in middle school because guys could relate to Stevie's experiences and would enjoy the conflict Stevie has to go through. Also any sports fan would love the book because it is heavily based on the game of baseball and many of the terms that are used are baseball terms. I personally just adored the book it was easily one of if not the best sports mystery I have ever read. Stevie actually was able to act like a detective while not losing that sporty kid feel that you would know him to be. It was just an amazingly well put together book. Truthfully I didn't expect too much, thinking it was just a mystery with a sports setting. I was really blown away.
In the end I would give this book an all out five stars. It was just excellent; nothing was truly bad about it, everything was just fabulous. There are three other books that John Feinstein has written but they really can all stand alone, they don't rely on each other to pull the reader through.
Special thanks to Alex (age 14) for contributing his review of Change-Up and to Random House for providing a copy of the book for this review.
Review Copyright © 2009 — Alex Nauert — All Rights Reserved — Reprinted with Permission
If you are interested in purchasing Change-Up from Amazon.com, please click the button to the right. Change-Up (Kindle edition) is also available. Learn more about the Kindle, Amazon's Wireless Reading Device.
Synopsis (from the publisher): Teen reporters Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson are covering baseball’s World Series, and during the course of an interview with a new hot pitcher, they discover more than a few contradictions in his life story. What’s he hiding? An embarrassing secret? A possible crime? Let the investigation begin!
Change-Up is the fourth mystery in this series, which won an Edgar Award in 2006 for its debut title, Last Shot.
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