A book about baseball and native/worldwide folklore? Almost too good to be true. Add to it that Michael Chabon, Pulitzer Prize winner and all around brilliant wordsmith, wrote it? Just flat out awesome. It's a slow burner and as far as a kids book goes, it may not be the sort of story for bedtime reading. Sure the action moments are packed, and the jokes are sly, but the Chabon works it slowly, building his characters and his purpose from nothing and weaving a seamless tapestry of a tale. Amazon recommends it for kids 10 and older, but the length and word size would have given me pause. Ethan is a bad baseball player in a town in Washington that has perennially good weather. Turns out that things are not as they seem and his town is actually on the edge of several worlds that are now being threatened by an evil fairy named Coyote. He must battle his way through worlds and play baseball to save the world(s).
Chabon threads the ubiquitous Coyote motif throughout and adds to the list of books/stories that use this ever-present baddie. Coyote, going by different names in most folktales and by different animals, is a trickster and never wishes good on humanity.
It's a fun book to read and for anyone who loves baseball, it will be a welcome addition to their shelves. Right next to Moneyball and The Brothers K.
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