Reviewing is always a hard balance between helping the book find it's perfect reader and also not leading on a reader who might only be able to buy one book this month. I don't like to write negative reviews, but I feel this book is still several revisions away from where it needs to be.

The good: this is a fast-paced story that kept my attention solidly throughout.

The problematic areas:
The characters are flat and one-dimensional, and there are too many plot points going on to develop any of them fully. Exciting events, such as the Cooperstown tournament, end in a quick summary. There is a brief moral dilemma regarding a cell phone that is resolved off the page. And the final resolution of the main problem is resolved through no action by the protagonist but instead by the police.

The only female characters are some Moms who drive kids places.

A gay character is introduced seemingly to show that the protagonist is such a great guy that he can even be friends with a gay kid. There is some very stereotypical supposition about a teammate that might be gay.

The protagonist is not particularly likeable as he struggles to maintain a friendship with a kid who has an ugly tooth. That is resolved not by learning that friendship is more important than looks, but by the friend getting a fake tooth.

Age group: This book has a few swear words, mention of drugs, alcohol, and masturbation, all of which are things that middle school kids might talk about in real life but generally aren't considered acceptable for MG books. They would be fine in YA, but the age of the main character (13) is too young for YA.

In summary: I would not recommend this book for my own son who loves baseball and is the target audience.

Not your typical middle-grade sports book! Infield Outsider documents 13-year-old Chuck Cory and his final baseball season playing on smaller youth diamonds. To me, the story was a metaphor for growing up and leaving childhood behind. Chuck graduates from his old BMX bike, takes on the responsibility of training his new friend how to pitch, questions the unscrupulous actions of his coach and stands up for outsiders. Despite all these noble acts, Chuck never comes off as an unbelievable character. Like any typical kid, he is still filled with doubts, regrets and flaws. In fact, he finds himself struggling during the whole story with his parents’ strict cell phone policy, which ultimately results in a controversial decision. The last quarter of the book did not play out as I had expected, although the author sprinkles enough foreshadowing clues. Some scenes and topics were an unusual choice, but never felt to me like they had come “out of left field,” to coin a phrase. I also enjoyed the banter between the characters and fun word play throughout! There were even questions at the end of the book to stimulate discussion in book clubs or classrooms. Overall, a very ambitious work by an up-and-coming children’s author. I'm amazed a larger publishing house hasn't picked up the series and can’t wait to see how the trilogy wraps up!