Back in the 1940s, Minneapolis-born writer B.J. Chute wrote a series of books for boys. They had titles like "Shift to the Right" and "Blocking Back," and were collections of stories about tennis, baseball and football. Being neither a boy nor a sports nut, I was not their intended audience, but the year I was 11 I read every one of them. Why? I liked the way she wrote and I thought the stories were fun. That was all I cared about. I was reminded of Chute when I read this trio of young-adult baseball novels by three Minnesota writers. They're all nicely written, they're all good stories and they're all fun. It will help if you like baseball, but it's not a requirement. And you definitely do not have to be a boy. MUDVILLE
by Kurtis Scaletta (Knopf, 265 pages, $16.99)
In the mythical Minnesota town of Moundville, it has been raining steadily and gloomily for 20 years.
Despite the nonstop deluge, Roy McGuire, the 12-year-old narrator, is cheerful and sensible, and he loves baseball, even in the rain. When he comes home from baseball camp, he finds that his father has taken in an enigmatic foster son named Sturgis.
With Sturgis' arrival -- or because of Sturgis' arrival? -- everything begins to change. The rain stops. The field dries out. The team takes shape.
Sturgis turns out to be an incredible pitcher with a mysterious past, and when Roy's team gets set to play arch-rivals from Sinister Bend, Sturgis becomes even more inscrutable.
Scaletta has written a very readable story with many twists and turns, and while everything doesn't add up precisely -- the whole Indian curse is a bit inexplicable, even on a second reading -- what in life does?
TOP OF THE ORDER
by John Coy (Feiwel and Friends, 182 pages, $16.99)
Like Scaletta's book, Coy's is told in first person by a likeable catcher, but the storyline is quite different.
