THE BOONSVILLE BOMBERS

In this cheerful, well-told story, ten-year-old Emma Lee overcomes plenty of self-doubt and heavy male resistance to win a place on her brother Michael's pick up baseball squad. Emma is already saving up for a glove; after many hours of practice with a tennis ball, she knows she can catch and throw; all she needs is one of Michael's homemade team T-shirts and a chance to prove herself. The former she claims after a laundry mishap; the latter finally comes when Michael reluctantly agrees to let her play and she makes a spectacular shoestring catch. Later, watching her first big-league game, Emma fields the home run that is her hero Owen Zabriskie's 3000th hit. Meeting him afterward, she gets a glove and a sackful of other equipment in exchange for the ball. Next challenge: learning to hit—but it doesn't take Emma long to develop that home-run swing. Herzig connects solidly here. Andreasen's vigorous drawings enhance the easy-looking format. (Fiction. 9-11)