{"product_id":"shakespeare-bats-cleanup-isbn-9780763629397","title":"Shakespeare Bats Cleanup","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"This funny and poignant novel celebrates the power of writing to help young people make sense of their lives and unlock and confront their problems.\" —\u003ci\u003e School Library Journal \u003c\/i\u003e(starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen MVP Kevin Boland gets the news that he has mono and won’t be seeing a baseball field for a while, he suddenly finds himself scrawling a poem down the middle of a page in his journal. To get some help, he cops a poetry book from his dad’s den — and before Kevin knows it, he’s writing in verse about stuff like, Will his jock friends give up on him? What’s the deal with girlfriends? Surprisingly enough, after his health improves, he keeps on writing, about the smart-talking Latina girl who thinks poets are cool, and even about his mother, whose death is a still-tender loss. Written in free verse with examples of several poetic forms slipped into the mix, including a sonnet, haiku, pastoral, and even a pantoum, this funny, poignant story by a master of dialogue is an English teacher’s dream — sure to hook poetry lovers, baseball fanatics, mono recoverers, and everyone in between.\"Koertge joins the ever-swelling ranks of writers experimenting with novels-in-verse with this journal of a teenaged jock who develops a taste for writing poetry while laid up with mono. Confined to the house, and mostly to bed, Kevin starts sneaking peeks into a prosody manual of his father’s, and trying his hand at different poetic forms...In the end, although his life is reshaped by his long illness, the future (except on the playing field) still looks bright. Kevin’s mix of lame and not-so-lame poems effectively convey realistic learning and recovery curves—and may also plant the idea in receptive readers that it’s okay for guys to write.\" —\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003eRon Koertge, the author of several acclaimed novels for young adults - \u003cbr\u003eincluding STONER \u0026amp; SPAZ and THE BRIMSTONE JOURNALS - has been a faculty member for more than thirty-five years at Pasadena City College, where he has taught everything from Shakespeare to remedial writing. He also writes poetry for adults. Of SHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP, he says, \"I find it funny that kids will willingly follow the rules in any game, but if you give them rules for writing poetry, they rebel!\"Their pitcher walks our leadoff man. Greg\u003cbr\u003emoves him up to second with a perfect\u003cbr\u003esacrifice. Fabian loops one into right.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm up. Two on, one out. I'm the cleanup\u003cbr\u003eman. My job is to bring these guys home.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI take a pitch. Foul one off. Take a strike.\u003cbr\u003eTheir left fielder drifts in.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBam! I lift one right over his head. A double!\u003cbr\u003eTwo runs score. I slide into second. Safe!\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThat's what I'm thinking, anyway, propped\u003cbr\u003eup in bed with some dumb book. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThan Dad comes in and says, \"The doctor\u003cbr\u003ecalled. Your tests came back. You've got\u003cbr\u003emono.\" \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"So I can't play ball.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe pats my knee. \"You can't even go to\u003cbr\u003eschool, Kevin. You need to take it real easy.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHe hands me a journal, one of those marbly\u003cbr\u003eblack-and-white ones he likes.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"You're gonna have a lot of time on your \u003cbr\u003ehands. Maybe you'll feel like writing\u003cbr\u003esomething down.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIN BED\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBeing sick is like taking a trip, isn't it?\u003cbr\u003eGoing to another country, sort of.\u003cbr\u003eA country nobody wants to visit.\u003cbr\u003eA country named Fevertown.\u003cbr\u003eOr Virusburg. Or Germ Corners.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe border guards are glum-looking,\u003cbr\u003ewith runny noses and pasty skin. Their\u003cbr\u003euniforms don't fit and flap open in the \u003cbr\u003eback so you can see their big, ugly butts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNobody wants to go there, but everybody\u003cbr\u003edoes, sooner or later.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd some stay.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003ePRESSURE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDad's never talked to me about writing\u003cbr\u003ebefore. He's not nuts to have me be just\u003cbr\u003elike him.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLen Boggs has a dad like that. It's been\u003cbr\u003eBoggs \u0026amp; Son ever since Lennie was about\u003cbr\u003etwo seconds old. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThey're plumbers. \"Got clogs? Call Boggs!\"\u003cbr\u003eDon't laugh. Their vans are all over the\u003cbr\u003eplace. They're rich.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAnd Len hates it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eLennie's fourteen, like me. He doesn't\u003cbr\u003eknow what he wants to do when he grows\u003cbr\u003eup. Maybe go in the Marines. Maybe play\u003cbr\u003ethe cello.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut he for sure doesn't want to be\u003cbr\u003ea plumber.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHis dad is already on his case, riding him\u003cbr\u003eabout it.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI think mine's just trying to be nice.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHOME ALONE\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWell, not exactly. Dad's here, that's why\u003cbr\u003ewe don't have to get somebody to come\u003cbr\u003ein and take care of me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFirst of all, I don't need much care. I sleep\u003cbr\u003eall the time, or at least it feels that way.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eDad works at home. He and I pass\u003cbr\u003eeach other in the hall—\u003cbr\u003eI in my sweats, he in his cap.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen I was little and I got sick, Mom used\u003cbr\u003eto read to me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThinking about that's not going to help.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eINQUIRING MINDS WANT TO KNOW\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhy am I writing down the middle\u003cbr\u003eof the page?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt kind of looks like poetry, but no way\u003cbr\u003eis it poetry. It's just stuff.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSo I tiptoe into the den and cop this book\u003cbr\u003eof Dad's. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt feels weird smuggling something about \u003cbr\u003epoetry up to my room like it's the new\u003cbr\u003ePENTHOUSE.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut I don't want Dad to know what I'm\u003cbr\u003edoing yet. Even though I'm not doing\u003cbr\u003eanything. Not really. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI'm just going to fool around a little,\u003cbr\u003esee what's what poetry-wise. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eHOW DO YOU DO, HAIKU\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eI thought I'd start small. I kind of\u003cbr\u003eremember haiku from school last year.\u003cbr\u003eI at least remember they're little.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBut, man—I never saw so many frogs \u003cbr\u003ein the moonlight. And leaves. Leaves\u003cbr\u003eall over the place. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWeren't there any gardeners in ancient\u003cbr\u003eJapan? Weren't there any cats and dogs?\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eStill, haiku look easy. Sort of. Five\u003cbr\u003esyllables in the first line, seven\u003cbr\u003ein the second, five in the third. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs.\u003cbr\u003eFrogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, frogs.\u003cbr\u003eFrogs, frogs, frogs, frogs, leaves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eVery funny, Kevin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAt least I finished it. I can't finish anything\u003cbr\u003eelse, except my nap. Seventeen syllables\u003cbr\u003eis just about right for somebody with my\u003cbr\u003ereduced stamina. Perfect thing for an\u003cbr\u003einvalid. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eOh, man—look at that: IN VALID. I never\u003cbr\u003esaw that before.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e          Just a single space\u003cbr\u003e          in a word I thought I knew\u003cbr\u003e         made the difference.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e__________\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSHAKESPEARE BATS CLEANUP by Ron Koertge. Copyright (c) 2006 by Ron Koertge. Published by Candlewick Press, Inc., Cambridge, MA.What happens when a straight-talking first baseman takes a swing at writing poetry?","brand":"Candlewick","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46305533001957,"sku":"NP9780763629397","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780763629397.jpg?v=1767736441","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/shakespeare-bats-cleanup-isbn-9780763629397","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}