18th out of 29 books
—
35 voters
The Fenway Foul-Up (Ballpark Mysteries #1)
by
David A. Kelly (Goodreads Author),
Mark Meyers
Now leading off the line-up—book #1 in a brand-new early chapter book mystery series where each book is set in a different American ballpark!
Thanks to Kate's mom, a sports reporter, cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins have tickets to the Red Sox game and All Access passes to Fenway Park. But as they're watching batting practice before the game, the lucky bat of Red Sox st...more
Thanks to Kate's mom, a sports reporter, cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins have tickets to the Red Sox game and All Access passes to Fenway Park. But as they're watching batting practice before the game, the lucky bat of Red Sox st...more
Paperback, 112 pages
Published
February 22nd 2011
by Random House Children's Books
(first published February 7th 2011)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
210)
• Ballpark Mysteries are a great addition to the early chapter books currently out there.
• Author David A. Kelly is definitely filling a need for more sports books for newly independent readers.
• Mysteries set in sports venues makes a combination guaranteed to work for young boys and sports-oriented girls.
================================================
Kate Hopkins and Mike Walsh have accompanied Kate's mom to Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game against the Oakland A's. During batting practic...more
• Author David A. Kelly is definitely filling a need for more sports books for newly independent readers.
• Mysteries set in sports venues makes a combination guaranteed to work for young boys and sports-oriented girls.
================================================
Kate Hopkins and Mike Walsh have accompanied Kate's mom to Fenway Park for a Boston Red Sox game against the Oakland A's. During batting practic...more
It looks like the Ballpark Mysteries is a great series in the making by David A Kelly. Geared toward young readers, the series features cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins who are huge baseball fans. Kate's mom is a sports reporter for a popular website, American Sportz, and she scores some "All Access" passes for a Red Sox vs. Oakland A's game. The kids can explore the park during warmups, including hanging out in the press box. Things get interesting when Red Sox superstar "Big D" realizes som...more
If you like mysteries and baseball this is the book for you! The Fenway Foul-Up is the first book in the Ballpark Mysteries. Cousins Mike and Kate are watching batting practice before the Red-Sox game at Fenway Park and the lucky bat of the superstar Red Sox player Big D is stolen. WIthout his bat, Big D can't hit the ball and the Red Sox are in danger of losing the game. Mike and Kate set out to solve the mystery of who stole the bat to save the game for the Red-Sox. While finding clues as to w...more
A good start to a new early reader series. This one is set, as the title implies, at Fenway Park, which means that the series was already off to a great start. Kelly features cousins Mike and Kate, which should help the series appeal to both boy and girl readers. The mystery itself was clever, reminding me a little of Encyclopedia Brown, one of my childhood favorites.
I can see this series being popular with grade school teachers working with reluctant readers, always a plus.
Full disclosure: I wo...more
I can see this series being popular with grade school teachers working with reluctant readers, always a plus.
Full disclosure: I wo...more
Evaluating short chapter books, those for early independent readers is tricky - the text can't be too complex, but if it's too simple it feels babyish and the kids don't want to read it. I felt like this one fell on the 'too easy, too young' side of the spectrum, which isn't a strike against it, necessarily, but it wasn't what I expected. I guess I was looking for a little bit more - more characterization, specifically. The plot and mystery were very appropriate for younger readers, and I just f...more
What do you get when you cross Ron Roy's mystery books and Matt Christopher's sports books? The new Ballpark Mysteries series. Each book takes place within a different ballpark and has dugout notes at the end filled with interesting facts about the stadium. In this particular book, friends Mike and Kate have all access passes to Fenway Park. During batting practice, Big D's, the star hitter of the Red Sox, lucky bat gets stolen...without it, Big D goes from hero to zero. Can Mike and Kate help d...more
Reading Level: Grades 2-4
The first book in the Ballpark Mysteries series features the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox season is jeopardized when their star slugger's lucky bat is stolen right after batting practice. When no one else can find the bat cousins Mike and Kate decide to save the day.
If you enjoyed this baseball mystery try:
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball by David Adler and
The Missing Mitt by Franklin Dixon
For more book reviews from the HPPL Youth Department, click her...more
The first book in the Ballpark Mysteries series features the Boston Red Sox. The Red Sox season is jeopardized when their star slugger's lucky bat is stolen right after batting practice. When no one else can find the bat cousins Mike and Kate decide to save the day.
If you enjoyed this baseball mystery try:
Cam Jansen and the Mystery of the Babe Ruth Baseball by David Adler and
The Missing Mitt by Franklin Dixon
For more book reviews from the HPPL Youth Department, click her...more
Mike and Kate are at Fenway Park, home of the Boston Red Sox, before a game. They are watching Big D, one of Boston's most popular players, take batting practice. When Big D's favorite bat goes missing and a ransom is requested, there are a whole lot of suspects around: the guy with the Yankees cap, the bat boy, the photographer, even the team mascot could have been involved. Mike and Kate begin to investigate in hopes of finding the culprit before the end of the game. A good first mystery for y...more
When young readers start to read independently, one of their favorite genres to explore is mystery. The Ballpark Mysteries series looks like a good choice especially for sports fans. This first installment takes place at Fenway Park where cousins Mike and Kate are on hand when the star slugger's bat goes missing. Enough clues are provided so that readers may figure out what happened to the bat, but there are red herrings as well to keep readers guessing. Fun facts about Fenway Park are included...more
This is a nice early chapter book for young reader interested in mysteries. Especially great for baseball fans, this series will be set in different major league ballparks. This particular mystery is set in Fenway Park where a famous Boston Red Sox player's favorite bat goes missing. The solution to the mystery seemed fairly obvious to me, but my boys didn't pick up on it until the end. My five-year old especially liked this one.
Library Catalog
Each book features a new mystery in the Ballpark Mystery series is set in a different ballpark. Here at our beloved Fenway, our heroes Mike Walsh and cousin Kate Hopkins, become involved in the disappearance of star player Big D’s lucky baseball bat. Can they figure out who the culprit is? The Fenway Foul-Up includes a fun fact page about Boston's Fenway Park.
Each book features a new mystery in the Ballpark Mystery series is set in a different ballpark. Here at our beloved Fenway, our heroes Mike Walsh and cousin Kate Hopkins, become involved in the disappearance of star player Big D’s lucky baseball bat. Can they figure out who the culprit is? The Fenway Foul-Up includes a fun fact page about Boston's Fenway Park.
I received this cute early reader mystery about two kids who solve the mystery of the star Red Sox player's stolen bat as an ARC. Excellent for what it is, not much else to say.
Jun 08, 2011
Samantha
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Young baseball fans
Recommended to Samantha by:
Goodreads Giveaway
This is a really cute kids book! Two kids: Mike and Kate have to solve a missing bat mystery to help Big D, the star player of the Boston Red Sox, find his bat before the Red Sox lose!
*I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway
*I won this in a Goodreads Giveaway
grades 2-4
I think the story was excellent. The story was about Mike and Kate going to Boston to see a Boston Red Sox game. Mike and Kate were watching batting practice before the Boston Red Sox game. Big D, the famous baseball player, had his bat stolen after batting practice. Mike and Kate work to help Big D get his bat back.
Jul 22, 2012
Vance Bryce
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
children-s-books
If you like the magic tree house and you love baseball then you will like the ballpark mysteries. Not only are Mike and Kate great detectives, but you learn a lot about baseball history, too. In the first of this series, learn about Fenway Park and the Green monster.
There are no discussion topics on this book yet.
Be the first to start one »
David A. Kelly is an established book, magazine, and newspaper writer who has written for a wide variety of outlets, including: Author, Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse, Random House, Spring, 2009, Ballpark Mystery Series, Random House, Spring, 2011; Contributor, The New York Times "Practical Guide to Practically Everything";- Travel writer, New York Times, Boston Globe, New York Post, Chicago Sun...more
More about David A. Kelly...
Share This Book
No trivia or quizzes yet. Add some now »

Loading...


































Aug 11, 2012 06:45pm