I first read Honus and Me when my parents got it for me at Barnes @ Noble years ago. It was not only the first Dan Gutman I had read, but also the first baseball book.
I don’t remember it perfectly because it was so long ago, but I do remember that I was sick and so wasn’t involved in my parents decision to buy the book. At the time I had a low opinion of sports books in general (although I hadn’t read any of them), and so at first criticized my parents for getting me this book.
They said they knew I normally didn’t like those kids of books, but they thought I would like this one. They were right.
Summary
At the beginning of the book we are introduced to the narrator, Joe Stoshack (also known as “Stosh”). Stosh is a young middle schooler who loves baseball and loves to play it. Unfortunately, he is not super good and keeps getting heckled.
Stosh is going through a rough time as his parents recently got divorced and don’t have much money. To help out, he accepts a job cleaning Mrs. Young’s attic. There is a ton of stuff in it, but Stosh agreed to the job and so follows through with it.
Something crazy happens when Stosh is going through Mrs. Young’s attic, however. He finds a Honus Wagner T-206 1909 baseball card; the most valuable in the world! Stosh decides not to tell his mom about it because he knows she’ll probably make him give it back. But this is really amazing; this card sells for millions of dollars!
Something even more amazing happens, however; Honus Wagner shows up in Stosh’s room! How can that happen? Stosh assumes it’s either a dream or a cruel joke, but it is not. He has some special power to travel through time with baseball cards! Stosh talks with Honus and gets help with his game.
Stosh then realizes that he can use the card to travel back in time and they go back to the time of the 1906 World Series. Honus even lets Stosh play for him and make some good plays! After the adventure is over, Stosh is confronted with the conundrum of whether he should sell the card or return it to Mrs. Young. His parents leave the decision up to him, but what actually ends up happening is a surprise to everyone.
Review
This book is not good because of any textbook reasons. It is not funny, does not have a lot of action. The only conventional thing about it is seeing Stosh (an identifiable character) going through some character growth. But really, this shouldn’t be a good book. That’s why it was rejected by seven different publishers.
But it is a good book. Why? For the same reason other books by Dan Gutman are good. He writes about things kids dream about. Being able to travel back in time with baseball cards? That is so awesome!
I didn’t even like baseball or the idea of time traveling when I first read this book, but I absolutely loved the book. Something about the realistic world Gutman creates with Stosh, and the very unrealistic (but very exciting) world of time travel that you just know is going to have some cool adventure.
On Amazon this book has no reviews of less than three stars, and even those are pretty positive. That’s very impressive. Almost all boys will like this book. I’d say it’s best for a fairly young kids; about seven to eleven. Although Stosh may strike out a lot at the beginning, Dan Gutman definitely does not with this book!
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