Honus and Me

Honus & Me

by Dan Gutman (1997)

A struggling bench warmer discovers the ability to travel through time by wishing on baseball cards, and wrestles with the desire to use his power to make a lot of money (therefore getting his parents back together) or to do good and the right thing.  He does learn the importance of self-confidence, a solid stance at the plate, and speed on the basepaths.

As one with a closet full of baseball cards, none of (or all of) which will ever fetch 400k and allow me to retire to a life of leisure and reading, I cry every time I read one of these books and the valuable card gets torn or destroyed and fails to bring our hero the riches he deserves.  I do enjoy the historically accurate portrayals of the players and their game, and there is a positive moral usually involved.

My Mom the Pirate

My Mom the Pirate

by Jackie French (2003)

cute, funny, good for beginning of school year or new students

The Time Warp Trio

The Good, the Bad, and the Goofy
and
Me Oh Maya

by Jon Scieszka (say it like "fresca")

Oh, those three wacky kids and their magical book! Traveling backwards and forwards through time (usually backwards) and getting involved with a variety of historical characters and events, with interesting factoids tossed in for good measure. Some of these read like the weaker Magical Treehouse series, the kids are only put in trouble to get them out quickly, but with much more personality and humor.

The Giant Rat of Sumatra: or, Pirates Galore

The Giant Rat of Sumatra

by Sid Fleischman (2005)

Good thing Flieschman Jr or Sr, I can never keep 'em straight, put in the "Pirates Galore" subtitle, because there are a ton of Giant Rats, specifically from Sumatra, in books, plays, poems, etc. out there! Never realized they were so popular...

Part pirate, part western, part history of San Diego; a shipwrecked boy helps a reforming buccaneer become a Californio ranchero and find his long lost childhood sweetheart before heading back to find his mother in Boston. Good adventure, interesting characters, life decisions, personal responsibility, character building. And pirates.

The conclusion to the Great Horned Spoon (which I have not found at the Library yet) trilogy.