What do you get when you mix two baseball buffs- April and Darren-with a minor league team and a major league adventure? A grand-slam summer! Twelve-year-old April O'Day's summer has gotten off to a flying start. As the new bat retriever for the Harpoons, her hometown's minor-league team, she's fetching bats and doling out great advice to players and coaches alike. In a word, she's becoming indispensable. But mysterious things are happening at Haney Field, which April and her best friend-and fellow baseball enthusiast-Darren Plummer are determined to uncover. As they quickly learn, this is no ordinary season. In fact, it's a whole new ballgame! From the back cover: October 2014 Last summer was going to be a quiet one. Unlike most of my friends from school, I wasn‛t packing up for camp, and I had no plans to travel to an exotic location, like Paris or Rome-or even Cape Cod. Life was going to be simple: eat, ride my bike, read (history, for school; mysteries, for fun), sleep, grow (hopefully), and watch baseball. But then, something extraordinary happened. I won first place in a contest sponsored by our local minor-league baseball team. And suddenly, things were looking up! While I didn‛t know it then, my vacation was going to be an incredible adventure-full of mystery, history, and friendship. Believe me, I never imagined I would ever be involved in something so improbable and wonderful. But I was. And lucky me, I got to share it all with my best friend, Darren Plummer. It was a summer full of people and events that will stay with me forever. And I‛ll never be the same. April O‛Day
