Review by School Library Journal Review
Gr 3-6-Joey Gallagher plays center field. When his team's star pitcher is injured, the seventh grader takes over and successfully completes two innings for a win and becomes the hero. Then Jesus arrives from Nicaragua to spend the year with the Gallagher family as a foreign exchange student. Joey adapts quite well-until his guest turns out to be a spectacular baseball player and steals Joey's thunder. There's enough game action to satisfy baseball fans; the school and family scenes are realistically portrayed; and the lessons, including one about appreciating the riches most Americans have in comparison to much of the rest of the world, are integrated well without being preachy. Another hit in a popular series.-Kate Kohlbeck, Randall School, Waukesha, WI (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Horn Book Review
In Champ, Matt, who is living temporarily with his uncle, practices his snowboard technique and contends with a local bully. In Home, Joey must adjust to his family's Nicaraguan foreign-exchange student, whose baseball skills surpass his own. Both books contain formulaic plots, weak prose, and, in the case of Home, excessive sentimentality, but there's enough athletic action to please sports fans. [Review includes these Matt Christopher titles: Snowboard Champ and Stealing Home.] (c) Copyright 2010. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. All rights reserved.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
