Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook

Sorry to break the news, but I’ve never been a fan of baseball.  Now that you know, I guess you wouldn’t be surprised if I told you I didn’t know much about the game.  Well, I didn't but I do now, at least about the old days, thanks to the entertaining book Hey Batta Batta Swing: The Wild Old Days of Baseball by Sally Cook.  Did you know that in the early days they didn’t have team uniforms, they all wore heavy wool flannel, like something you’d wear in winter, but their socks were different colors.  The Chicago team wore white socks which is why they’re now called the White Socks.  Okay, that’s not news, not even for me, but the Dodgers got their name because the fans had to dodge trolley cars to get to the stadium.  Oh, and the guys didn’t like wearing numbers on their shirts because they thought it was a form of ranking best to worst and it made them feel like prisoners. Oh, and players could be traded just like today, but for one guy the asking price was a bag of oysters and for another guy it was a bag of prunes! So whether you like baseball or not, this book is as fascinating as it is funny.

Book review posted by Steve Browne, Youth Technology Librarian

The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

The Last Rider: The Final Days of the Pony Express by Jessica Gunderson

Matt Edgars longs for his life the way it used to be when he lived in Kansas and helped his dad with the horses and the farm.  Since his dad had died, he and his Mom moved to San Francisco, but as he got older, he eagerly watched for ways to fill his life with new adventures.  When he saw a poster advertising for boys his age to become riders on horseback to carry the mail between San Francisco, California and St. Joseph, Missouri, he was thrilled to get a job as a Pony Express Rider.  He worked hard getting the mail delivered, with the added challenges of wild animals, dangerous snakes, and desert heat -- even keeping ahead of someone who was setting fire to the Express stations!  Delivering President Abraham Lincoln's Inaugural Address took seven days and seventeen hours -- the fastest piece of mail delivered by the Pony Express riders.  If you like historical fiction, you'll enjoy this story about the last days of the Pony Express, which helped make quick communication possible between the new Western States and the East before the telegraph was invented.