Strike Zone by Mike Lupica - ESSENTIAL

Strike Zone by Mike Lupica, 249 pages. Philomel (Penguin), 2019.  $18.

Content: G (father arrested) 

BUYING ADVISORY: EL, MS - ESSENTIAL

AUDIENCE APPEAL: HIGH

While Nick, 12, was born in America, his parents are in the country illegally.  It’s the secret he keeps from everyone except his two best friends on his baseball team.  He keeps it even from the girl he likes because her dad is a cop.  While that is on his mind the most, he is still busy this summer pitching his way up to the tournament champs so that he can win the chance to meet Michael Arroyo, his hero, another boy who started his life in America as an illegal and became a pitching champs for Nick’s beloved Yankees.

Lupica is always on point when it comes to sports novels and I love how he includes life within the pages on an equal level.  This one brings us back into the life of Michael, who was the main character in Heat.

Cindy, Library Teacher, MLS