We specialize in hard to find items
All Categories
*Price and Stocks may change without prior notice
*Packaging of actual item may differ from photo shown
- Electrical items MAY be 110 volts.
- 7 Day Return Policy
- All products are genuine and original
About The Rhino In Right Field
Product Description “Laugh-out-loud fun…A winner in every way.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “Funny and good-hearted.” —Publishers Weekly A boy who loves baseball must get past his hard-working immigrant parents—and the rhino in the outfield—to become a batboy in this laugh-out-loud middle grade novel in the tradition of The Sandlot. Nick wants to change his life. For twelve years, he’s done what his hard-working, immigrant parents want him to do. Now he’s looking for his own American dream and he thinks he’s found it. The local baseball team is having a batboy contest, and Nick wants to win. But the contest is on a Saturday—the day Nick has to work in his father’s shop. There’s one other tiny—well, not so tiny—problem. A 2,000-pound rhinoceros named Tank. Nick and his friends play ball in the city zoo—and Tank lives just beyond the right field fence. Nick’s experience getting the ball out of Tank’s pen has left him frozen with fear whenever a fly ball comes his way. How’s a lousy fielder going to win the contest? Nick practices every day with his best friend, Ace, and a new girl who has an impressive throwing arm! But that’s not enough—to get to the contest, Nick has to lie to his parents and blackmail his uncle. All while dodging the school bully, who’s determined to win even by playing dirty. Nick will need to keep his eye on the ball in this fast, funny story about a game that can throw you some curveballs—just like life! Review "Laugh-out-loud fun with a wonderful cast of characters. A winner in every way." -- Kirkus Reviews, starred review "DeKeyser skillfully melds historical details of 1948 Milwaukee with fast-paced action and humor...A recommended purchase for large middle grade collections." -- School Library Journal "Funny and good-hearted." -- Publishers Weekly “Accessible, detailed, and charmingly genuine…a solid home run.” -- Booklist Online "[A] warm, wonderful novel." -- Shelf Awareness for Readers About the Author Stacy DeKeyser is the author of The Brixen Witch, which received two starred reviews and was a Chicago Public Library Best of the Best Pick, and its sequel, One Witch at a Time, as well as the young adult novel Jump the Cracks and two nonfiction books for young readers. She lives in Connecticut with her family. To learn more, visit her online at StacyDeKeyser.com. Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Rhino in Right Field CHAPTER 1 EVERYTHING STARTED ON the day I had that close call with Tank. Tank lives two blocks away, so I see him almost every day, but he usually ignores me. This is probably for the best, since Tank is a rhinoceros. A 2,580-pound Diceros bicornis with a seventeen-inch horn, according to the sign on his fence. That fence also happened to be our right-field fence, which is how Tank and I got to know each other on a first-name basis. It was my turn to play right field, and I’ll admit it: my mind wandered. If you’ve ever played baseball, you know what it’s like. Because no one ever hits the ball to right field. Except, of course, when they do. It doesn’t help that I’m a terrible outfielder. To be perfectly honest, I couldn’t catch a fly ball to save my life. So there I was, caught flat-footed when Pete walloped the ball. It sailed over my head and landed with a thunk in a pile of hay on the wrong side of the fence. Tank’s side. And there was Tank, snoozing in the shade of a billboard. (CALL KING’S MOTORS AT HOPKINS 5800. YOUR SOURCE FOR GENUINE PACKARD PARTS!) That was our last baseball. Somebody had to get it back. And that somebody was the right fielder. Let me say this right now: the general public does not belong in rhinoceros pens—ever. This fact is so obvious, some genius decided that a stone wall topped with a chest-high chain-link fence would be enough of a reminder. Sure, it’s enough to keep a stumpy-legged rhino in. But it’s useless at keeping a twelve-year-old kid out. Because here’s another obvious thing: Ba
