Mark Holtzen

Kell and Gracie are sent to spend the summer with Grandad on a remote island off Washington state. Grandad is a taciturn curmudgeon and not very grandfatherly. Kell and Gracie don't know their grandfather well and spend their time exploring the island on their own. When they find an old pistol buried in a former outhouse and later, an old diary, Kell sets on a quest to learn more about the Pig War and its connection to the pistol and diary. The Pig War is not known to anyone who hasn't spent time on San Juan Island but author Holtzen does a commendable job making this unusual war between the Americans and English relatable to a child's mindset.… (lisätietoja)

Seattle is caught up in a baseball pennant race but the stretch run doesn’t involve the Mariners and the star of the story is a boy named Huey. Welcome to 1955, when the Seattle Rainiers were the biggest team in town. They need only one more win against the Los Angeles Angels to clinch the Pacific Coast League title. Huey has as a prized ticket to that game. No, wait! Where is it? The ticket is missing! Huey goes looking for it, retracing his steps all the way to ballpark. His is a diverse neighborhood, united by baseball. He hears the game coming from radio sets all along the street as he talks with and helps the neighbors he encounters. He’s concerned about missing the game but he never loses his cool. The ticket is somewhere.

A Ticket to the Pennant is a children’s picture book with colorful, retro-style illustrations. For young readers the story is about anticipation, looking for a cherished lost item, and remaining cool under pressure. For adults it is a glance into a lost world: the setting is still Seattle, but it’s Sicks Stadium rather than Safeco Field, Leo Lassen instead of Dave Niehaus or Rick Rizzs, and Fred Hutchison is the name on a manager’s uniform instead of a hospital. Despite the seemingly alternate universe of 1955, baseball is still baseball and going to a big game is still exciting to young fans. Many things have changed in sixty years; some things haven’t.

Shelf Appeal: Children will like this book for the interesting pictures and the familiar experience of being unable to find something important. Adults will enjoy reading it to them for the nostalgia of a Seattle past they might not have known.

-- I wrote this review for the Books section of the Washington state website: http://www.WA-List.com… (lisätietoja)