Game 3 (Barnstormers Series #3)

PREGAME RECAP

As the Travelin' Nine head to Chicago, the team is filled with hope and optimism. After a disappointing loss in Cincinnati at the start of their baseball tour, the heroes of the Spanish-American War bounced back in Louisville. Doc and Woody came through with timely fielding, Crazy Feet and Tales smacked clutch hits, and champion horses provided that extra kick, helping the barnstormers to their come-from-behind victory.

By the end of the thrilling contest, there was no doubt in the minds of Griffith, Ruby, and Graham that the baseball their Uncle Owen had given to them on the night of their father's funeral was magical.

Indeed, the mysteries surrounding their baseball, which their uncle had urged them to keep secret, were deepening. And as excited as they were by the barnstormers' win, the Payne siblings' fears and worries continued to grow. Uncle Owen's tattered, bloody letter had warned them about the Chancellor. What's more, they'd seen the Chancellor's men lurking at the Louisville game. Griffith and Ruby now realized that their adventure was about far more than raising money to pay off a family debt. But what exactly was it about?

After the Louisville match, Griffith confronted his mother. She denied that the Chancellor could be involved, but she promised to answer all of Griffith's questions on the train to Chicago...

Children's Literature

Griffith, Ruby, and Graham Payne believe they own a magical baseball. Their Uncle Owen gave it to them on the night of their father's funeral and told them to keep it secret. The children are heading to Chicago with the Travelin' Nine, a group of baseball-playing heroes from the Spanish-American war, to raise money to pay off a family debt. A "Pregame Recap" at the back of the CD explains the basics to listeners: the Travelin' Nine lost a game in Cincinnati at the start of their baseball tour. The loss was followed by a win in Louisville and their next game in Chicago is the subject of this story. Griffith, the elder sibling, starts piecing together the mysteries surrounding the baseball during the Chicago game, which turns out to be an amazing victory for the Travelin' Nine. The mysteries include baseballs and bats on fire, a bald eagle and gigantic cow, and threats from the Chancellor and his evil henchmen. The Chancellor wants that baseball, but he lets Griffith know that he wants even more from the Payne family. Griffith is scared, but he tries to protect his younger siblings from his fears. When the story ends, Ruby and the baseball have disappeared in the Chicago train station. Griffith is frantically searching for them; the train carrying the Travelin' Nine to Minneapolis is about to depart. Listeners are well advised to listen to the stories in the "Barnstomers" series in sequence. It is sometimes hard to place events and characters in context when listening to game 3 without the benefit of the prior stories. Although the narrator does a good job in reading the text, this listener has been spoiled by the Full Cast Audio recordings, where different actors play differentcharacters and voices are distinct. Reviewer: Jeanne K. Pettenati, J.D.

#1 New York Times Best Seller LOREN LONG’s illustrations have received two gold medals from the Society of Illustrators and his first picture book, Angela Johnson’s I Dream of Trains, won the Society of Children’s Books Writers and Illustrators Golden Kite Award for Illustrations and his inspired interpretation of Walt Whitman’s When I Heard Learn’d Astronomer was a Golden Kite Honor. A much sought after editorial artist whose work has appeared in Times, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, the Wall Street Journal and Atlantic Monthly, Loren is widely known for the illustrations in Madonna’s #1 New York Times Best Seller Mr. Peabody’s Apples. And Watty Piper’s The Little Engine That Could. He lives in West Chester, Ohio, with his wife, Tracy, and two young sons, Griffith and Graham.

Phil Bildner is the author of the New York Times bestselling Sluggers! series, the Texas Bluebonnet Award-winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy and its companion, The Shot Heard 'Round the World, both illustrated by C. F. Payne; and Twenty-One Elephants, illustrated by LeUyen Pham. His latest picture book is Turkey Bowl, illustrated by C.F Payne. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.