Publishers Weekly

Freelance writer Silva, and Koney, who directs youth programs for Seattle's YMCA, teamed up to write a book about baseball, which they both love, even though they've "never played the game." Before they even describe the basic mechanics of the game, they launch into a chatty chapter on baseball history. They follow this with a digression on the role of managers before arriving at the heart of their book, a discussion of various game positions and how they're played. They continue with chapters on pitchers, theories of the lineup and instructions on how to score a game, all interspersed with sidebars from females, identified by first name and age, making enthusiastic comments about what a great game baseball is. Surprisingly, basic information-how the diamond is organized, the responsibilities of each position, game mechanics-is never laid out consistently. In the end, apart from the subtitle and the sidebars, there's little here for "savvy girls." (Apr.)