Soar

by Joan Bauer

Bauer, J. (2016). Soar.  New York, NY: Viking.

Jeremiah is 12 years old, at least he thinks he is.  Abandoned as an infant in the snack room of a computer company the doctors could only assume his age.  Luckily Jeremiah, chewing on his stuffed eagle, was found by a kind hearted computer programmer named Walt who decided to take him in and adopt him as his own son.  Walt, a former baseball player in school, loves the game and shares his passion and knowledge of the sport with his new son.  Jeremiah develops a love of baseball as well and has big dreams, until all of a sudden they are dashed when he is forced to have a heart transplant.  Well if he can't actually play ball, he'll do the next best thing, he sets his sights on becoming a coach.  It just so happens that Walt has been transferred to Hillcrest, Ohio, a town known for it's championship baseball team.  Jeremiah couldn't be more excited to watch the Hornet's kill it on the ball field.  But when the star player suddenly dies, and Coach Perkins is accused of giving his players performance enhancing drugs, the town erupts in scandal and it seems like Hillcrest's days of baseball and glory are over.  So where does that leave Jeremiah?  He can't stand to watch his beloved sport smeared and dying in this town, and takes it upon himself to rally up some of his middle school classmates to form their own team.  But will anyone ever take them seriously?  Has the damage to baseball's reputation in this town been done?  Can he really take this group of kids and turn them into real ball players?  One thing he learns for sure is that it is not all about winning or losing, but how you play and never giving up.  I would recommend this Texas Bluebonnet Nominee for students in grades 4-8, and think it will have a special appeal to males and sports lovers.

Book Trailer for Soar

Activities and Resources to Use With Soar