Rules of the Game - Hardcover

Marjorie Maddox; John Sandford

3.5

14 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1590786033 ISBN 13: 9781590786031

Publisher: Wordsong, 2009

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Here's a celebration of baseball in poetry and the poetry in baseball. Baseball is a game of fine points and grand gestures, small blunders and bold accomplishments—the hook slide into second, the humble bunt, the unexpected wild pitch, the bases-loaded home run. Poet and baseball fan Marjorie Maddox pays tribute to these and other details that make the national pastime an enduring and engaging sport for players and fans alike. Surprising wordplay and striking images offer a unique perspective of this classic American game.

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About the Author:

Marjorie Maddox is a professor of English and the director of creative writing at Lock Haven University. She lives in Williamsport, Pennsylvania.

John Sandford has illustrated many books, including Down Buttermilk Lane by Barbara Mitchell and The Terrible Hodag and the Animal Catchers by Caroline Arnold. He lives in Grand Haven, Michigan.

From School Library Journal:

Grade 5–8—In this collection of approximately 40 brief poems, Maddox focuses on aspects of the game from pitching and hitting to base-running and fielding. Her carefully constructed word pictures offer dramatic snapshots of infield flies and collisions between fielders, sacrifice bunts, balks and pitch-outs, stolen bases, and grand slams. "A Strike by any other name is a (sometimes) foul, is a swing/that swats only air, is doing nothing when the ball's right there—/three times is an out is an out is an out." An umpire and a player face off in the large illustration laid across one spread: under the umpire, the poem "Out" concludes "...all hard-pitched hope outthrown, thrown out/of luck, of heart, of the hard heat of summer/and what won't be." On the facing page, the poem "Safe" states, "...What-could-be hunkers down here,/dares to snare the numbers,/spike out the sure thing,/outlaw the out." Compact yet full of meaning, these selections offer glimpses of the game's pleasures and poignant moments. Sandford's black-and-white pencil drawings add to the drama, focusing viewers' attention on the gangly pitcher's calculating gaze or the single-minded pursuit of the pony-tailed infielder. Maddox's whimsical wordplay will be savored by casual sports fans and hardcore baseball addicts alike.—Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA
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