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24th out of 72 books
—
5 voters
Free Baseball
by
Sue Corbett
Felix knows his dad was a famous baseball player in Cuba—and that his father risked everything to send Felix to America. But his mom won’t reveal anything else. When a team with Cuban players comes into town, Felix wonders if they knew his dad, and sneaks into their locker room to ask. That’s when the players mistake him for their new batboy.
To uncover his father’s story,...more
To uncover his father’s story,...more
Hardcover, 160 pages
Published
February 2nd 2006
by Dutton Juvenile
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Felix Piloto dreams of playing baseball like his father, a famous Cuban player who he has never met. Felix's mother works long hours to try to make a better life for Felix, but he feels neglected and misunderstood.
While attending a local game with his dreaded babysitter, Felix makes a decision that just might change his life forever. When he slips away from the babysitter and is mistaken for the visiting team's new batboy, he feels like he is part of the team. His mother won't miss him , right?...more
While attending a local game with his dreaded babysitter, Felix makes a decision that just might change his life forever. When he slips away from the babysitter and is mistaken for the visiting team's new batboy, he feels like he is part of the team. His mother won't miss him , right?...more
Jun 30, 2008
Fluxbrarian
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
boys, baseball fans
Shelves:
elementary,
upper-elementary
Felix is the son of a famous baseball player in Cuba, and he knows that his father risked everything to send him and his mother to America. But he doesn't know when his father will be able to join them in Florida, and his mother won’t tell him anything. When a minor-league team with Cuban players comes to town, Felix sneaks into the locker room to ask about his father. The team mistakes him for the new batboy, and when he stows away on their bus, he finds himself miles away from home. Felix, a h...more
Apr 25, 2009
Megan
rated it
3 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
4th-7th grade boys, sports fans, bilingual students
Free Baseball reads like a Hallmark or ABC Family movie. A tween boy is mistaken for the batboy of a minor league team. Because Felix is searching for information on his long-lost father (a ball player from Cuba), he never tells the players or the manager that he is just a kid trying to get away from his babysitter for a while. He soon finds himself doing laundry and running errands for the team, all the while trying to find his answers.
This is probably a dream come true for boys who love baseb...more
This is probably a dream come true for boys who love baseb...more
The main character is Felix in story Free Baseball, by Sue Corbett. This adventure is about a boy and his love for the game of baseball. Felix is a Cuban boy who crossed borders by boat with his mother at the age of 3. When Felix enters a radio contest and wins two tickets to a local minor league baseball game his journey begins . Felix gets supposedly separated from his babysitter who took him to the game and decides to stowaway on the opposing team bus. He did this because the miracle, the opp...more
I thought it was amazinggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggggg...more
Jul 24, 2009
Kate Hastings
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Grades 4-6, baseball, Cuban-Americans
Shelves:
sports,
jfic-middle-grades-4-6
Felix loves everything about baseball and can't understand why his mother HATES it, even though his father is a famous baseball player. Felix and his mother have lived in the US since Feliz was a baby-- he and his mother escaped from Cuba on a small boat. Now older, Felix is determined to find out more about his father and why he never made it to America.
The writing style is simple, with Spanish words peppered in to add to the authenticity. The ending is a bit predicable--but also what I was pul...more
The writing style is simple, with Spanish words peppered in to add to the authenticity. The ending is a bit predicable--but also what I was pul...more
This book should be on a summer reading list for kids because it will appeal to both boys and girls. The main character Felix is missing the father he never knew, who is a famous baseball player from Cuba. Felix lives and breathes baseball and wants to be a part of the game at any cost. When he wins tickets for a minor league game, his entire world changes. This is a sports story with an interesting plot and has characters that are well developed.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, as I often am by sports stories. It's about the son of a Cuban baseball player who rafted over to Florida with his mother as a baby. He still hopes his father will join them someday. There's a bit of Spanish in it, but you can tell what is being said by the context, and there is a glossary of both Spanish and baseball terms in the back, for those who don't speak either language.
I was pleasantly surprised by this book, as I often am by sports stories. It's about the son of a Cuban baseball player who rafted over to Florida with his mother as a baby. He still hopes his father will join them someday. There's a bit of Spanish in it, but you can tell what is being said by the context, and there is a glossary of both Spanish and baseball terms in the back, for those who don't speak either language.
Felix is obsessed with baseball and learning about his father. It was a simple story of Felix's journey to accept where he is in life and learning that he has a good life.
While the ending was a bit too neatly tied, I was glad that it was happy and Felix was able to grow and change.
I would recommend this to sports fans, boys, and an occasional single-parent child.
While the ending was a bit too neatly tied, I was glad that it was happy and Felix was able to grow and change.
I would recommend this to sports fans, boys, and an occasional single-parent child.
Rounding up from the 3.5 stars I'd give it if Goodreads allowed... This was an enjoyable, well written story about Felix, a Cuban-born boy with a passion for baseball. He dreams that his father, a star player for the Cuban National team, will defect and play for the Major Leagues in the U.S., and that Felix himself will become a great player. He resents his mother for discouraging those hopes as well as for the long hours she works to support them. Among the sports-themed fiction for this grade...more
I picked this one up because I liked her book 'Last Newspaper Boy' so much. This one was okay, but not as witty as the other book. Would be great for a boy that loved baseball.
While the premise is a bit forced, there is a satisfying message in this book. I enjoyed the emotional depth of the characters as well, which is rare in a sports book.
Feb 07, 2011
Kate Carper
added it
My classmates are reading this book I have been lisening to there conforsations! I think it has had some good results I am about to read it!
view all 4 comments
I really liked this book. All the loose ends were tied together a little too neatly, but it is a good story with a heart.
i thing this a good to read i am look for to reading it !!!!!!!!!!!
DID NOT LIKE THIS AT ALL... don't waste your time reading it!!!!!!
The story was heart-warming as well as interesting.
A great tale of self-discovery and independence, set to a background of baseball. Recommended for middle school. Baseball fans will like this book, but since it doesn't contain a lot of baseball jargon, casual fans will like it, too.
its good at the moment
It is pretty intersting cause you have a little weird feeling why felix is running away from his mother and his baby sitter. I feel kind'a bad for his mom because she might think he is really safe but he is really not. And really weird because she didn't ask to talk to his friends mom which is what would i do.
But so far i am lovin it hope you read it because super good.i finished the book his mom got a job as the miracles genaral manager then they got vics house and now they are living a happy l...more
But so far i am lovin it hope you read it because super good.i finished the book his mom got a job as the miracles genaral manager then they got vics house and now they are living a happy l...more
JAR4-Cor
I think is really cool because is about base ball and because its about about a boy that want to play base ball but his mom doesn't trust him but when his mom sees him play base ball thats when his mom knows that hi can play base ball.
Good for a lower-middle end 5th grade group. There's lots of Spanish in the dialogue which can make it difficult for readers who have no Spanish background. The story itself is about Cuban immigration to the States, which can be a bit hard for some fifth graders to really grasp, but they get the baseball parts of the book
My mom got me this from her middle school library book fair. It's the cutest. Highly recommended for any youngster, but especially one who's into sports. I like that the author works in themes of family hardships and immigration as well; topics that young adults would do well to approach with empathy.
This actually would be 2 1/2 stars if goodreads offered it. Formulaic, but I can usually live with schlocky sports-story tropes. What really put me off was the dog. Even I was rolling my eyes, and I'll forgive almost anything having to do with dog characters.
Free Baseball is an amazing book. It is touching, suspenseful, and dramatic. When I first read it years ago, it became one of my all-time favorite books. For people who like to read and are looking for a good book, I highly recommend Free Baseball.
A young Cuban American boy sneaks into a Florida locker room of baseball players, some Cuban also, looking for information about his father who he believes is a famous Cuban player. Very touching, great for a baseball lover.
Jul 06, 2008
Marcia
rated it
4 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
baseball fans, grades 4+
Recommended to Marcia by:
MCBA
This was a nice read on a hot summer day. Baseball, a little education on Balseros and Cuba, a likeable main character and a terrific cast of minor league ball players. The ending was so unplausible, but I loved it!
This book is ok. In the end, everything ends up too perfectly. Everyone got what they wanted. Uh hello, that isnt real life. Don't read it unless you have to. That's the only reason I read it.
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Sue Corbett is the author of 12 Again, Winner of the California Young Reader Medal, and Free Baseball, a finalist for 10 state readers' choice awards. Her latest novel is The Last Newspaper Boy in America and her first picture book, The 12 Days of Christmas in Virginia, have just been released this fall. "
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