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Safe at Home - A Baseball Card Mystery

BookBrowser Review: 
Safe at Home: A Baseball Card Mystery 
by Robert Skead 

Cross Training Publishing, September 1999, 94 pp. 
ISBN: 188700291X 
Genre: Detective/Mystery 
Reviewer: Jo Peters 
Reviewed: 3/24/2000

 

Skead's SAFE AT HOME is a youth fiction book with themes of family, faith and forgiveness. Eleven-year-old Trevor received a special gift from his great-grandfather, a 1915 mint condition rookie Babe Ruth baseball card. The card was valuable to his dad because of its high monetary value, but it was valuable to Trevor because it was a gift from his great-grandfather whom he loved very much. His great-grandpa had played ball in his youth, and he loved to tell about how he was the only person ever to steal home base against the Babe--few people remember that Ruth was a great pitcher as well as a great hitter. A local sportswriter heard about the card and Great-grandpa's story about stealing home against Babe Ruth. He did an interview and published the story even though he was unable to find a record of the game in question. The Baseball Hall of Fame had no record of it, but they stressed that some records were lost, and the game might have occurred as reported Trevor's dad made a rule that the Ruth card was not to leave the house, but Trevor wanted to show it to his school friends, and he disobeyed his dad. Great-grandpa's tale sounded fanciful, to be sure, and Trevor's friends razzed him and called his great-grandpa a liar. Trevor defended him, but for the first time, he, too, began to doubt the truth of the story. Great-Grandpa learned of Trevor's doubt and was hurt and disappointed in Trevor. Later, Trevor discovered he had lost the valuable card. Ultimately, solving the mysteries of the lost card and the lost game teach Trevor about the importance of family, faith and forgiveness. Skead deftly incorporates these themes in an interesting story comprised of baseball fact and lore. Which elements are fact and which are fiction are explained at the end of the book. SAFE AT HOME is a story that young adults will enjoy and is a must-read for any child who is interested in the early days of baseball.

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