Hero

Zach Harriman's life had never been perfect with his dad traveling all over the world as the president's special adviser and "troubleshooting diplomat". Most kids would think having a famous dad would be the best thing in the world but not Zach. I mean, it's pretty cool being the famous Tom Harriman's only child and living with him in Manhattan, New York but his dad is gone all the time. But today he receives the most shocking, grievous, heart wrenching, surprise of his life that will change his life forever.... his dad is dead. His dad has died in a  air plane accident coming from Zagreb, Croatia on "official government business". The puzzling thing is that he didn't radio any airport towers and there was no sign of a struggle. Zach believes this is no accident and he's determined to find out what really happened. When he arrives at the crash site near Amagansett, New York he meets "Mr.Herbert" an old man who shows up at the crash site  in the middle of nowhere and claims      to know Zach's father. What would you have done? Well Zach doesn't trust him. At the end of their brief conversation Mr. Herbert says Zach's dad had the magic, zach had the magic, and then disappeared. WHOAAAAH!!!! Zach thinks "Herb (My personal nickname for Mr. Herbert)" knows about his dad. The actual interesting part begins now. As Zach fights the Bads (Basically all the terrorists and troublemakers in the world) he learns more and more of his magical abilities such as super speed, lightning quick reflexes, and a first step Allen Iverson and Derrick Rose could only wish for. Between fighting Bads, learning new magical abilities, and learning about his dad Zach learns nothing is as it seems.

The Batboy

The Batboy

                                                                        My third Independent Reading Blog is about a book called "The Batboy", by Mike Lupica. This book is about Brian Dudley, a batboy for the Detroit Tigers (His local team). His ex-big leaguer dad, Cole Dudley, is now a pitching coach/scout for the Arizona Diamondbacks and is divorced from his mom, Liz Dudley. His dad loved baseball more than anything in life, even Brian or his mom and was no good at anything except for baseball, even being Brian's dad. Brian is shocked when his best friend (and ace starting pitcher on their 14 and under all-star team) tells him that his baseball idol, Hank Bishop, is trying to make the comeback of a lifetime at 35 years old. He was caught taking steroids a few years before and was given a 50 game suspension casting a shadow on all of the records he set and his whole career. Brian still is psyched when Hank arrives to the Tigers clubhouse, but when he tries to talk to Hank he is utterly rjected by a "Did I talk to you?......Then don't talk to me". "When Hank Bishop starts to show his true colors, Brian learns that life can throw you a curveball."

         I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in sports books and likes baseball. I would also rate it 5 stars out of five stars. Very, very good book. Some recommended books would be Heat, Heart of a Champion, Safe at home, and The Big Field.