Keeping Score
Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park is a historical novel published by HarperCollins Publishers on March 8, 2010. This edition spans 224 pages and is presented in English. The story revolves around Maggie Fortini, a devoted Brooklyn Dodgers fan, and her brother Joey-Mick, both named after baseball legend Joe DiMaggio. While Joey-Mick plays the game, Maggie immerses herself in the statistics and intricacies of baseball, finding joy in keeping score and feeling connected to her team.
Readers will discover Maggie’s journey as she navigates the challenges of being a fan during the early 1950s, a time marked by the Korean War and the ups and downs of her beloved Dodgers. The narrative explores themes of family, faith, and the impact of sports on personal lives. As Maggie writes to her friend Jim, a Giants fan drafted into the army, she learns the importance of support and resilience. This book captures the essence of being a true fan, making it relatable even to those who may not initially have an interest in baseball.
Official synopsis Publisher
A historical novel from Newbery medalist Linda Sue Parks about life, faith, and America’s favorite pastime: baseball.
Both Maggie Fortini and her brother, Joey-Mick, were named for baseball great Joe DiMaggio. Unlike Joey-Mick, Maggie doesn’t play baseball–but at almost ten years old, she is a dyed-in-the-wool fan of the Brooklyn Dodgers. Maggie can recite all the players’ statistics and understands the subtleties of the game.
Unfortunately, Jim Maine is a Giants fan, but it’s Jim who teaches Maggie the fine art of scoring a baseball game. Not only can she revisit every play of every inning, but by keeping score she feels she’s more than just a fan: she’s helping her team.
Jim is drafted into the army and sent to Korea, and although Maggie writes to him often, his silence is just one of a string of disappointments–being a Brooklyn Dodgers fan in the early 1950s meant season after season of near misses and year after year of dashed hopes. But Maggie goes on trying to help the Dodgers, and when she finds out that Jim needs help, too, she’s determined to provide it. Against a background of major league baseball and the Korean War on the home front, Maggie looks for, and finds, a way to make a difference.
Even those readers who think they don’t care about baseball will be drawn into the world of the true and ardent fan. Linda Sue Park’s captivating story will, of course, delight those who are already keeping score.
This historical novel is from Newbery Medalist Linda Sue Park, whose beloved middle grade books include A Single Shard and A Long Walk to Water.
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