THE HURRICANES OF WEAKERVILLE

A young baseball superfan realizes his dream, but is he up to the challenge?

Alex Weakerman comes by his love of baseball naturally. His elderly Grandpa Ira owns the Weakerville, Iowa, Hurricanes, “the greatest independent professional baseball team in the whole world,” in Alex’s not-so-humble opinion. This doesn’t mean that Alex is a skilled athlete. He still harbors memories of childhood sports ineptitude under the watchful eye of Aliyah Perkins, the sportiest girl in Weakerville. When Ira passes away, the team is inherited by his brother-in-law, wealthy (and very tan) used-car magnate Parnell “Tex” Cohaagen, who is as flamboyant as his name implies. Alex fears for the team’s future, doubly so when Ira’s will stipulates the firing of Hurricanes manager Buddy LeForge. Tex pitches a mind-blowing curveball when he reveals Ira’s second stipulation: that Alex be hired as the team’s manager. Buoyed by the encouragement of his best bud, Slips, Alex stumbles into the unknown, one step at a time. With Ira’s notes to guide him and a newly enlisted Aliyah also at his side, how can he possibly fail? Rylander fills his warm coming-of-age story with crackly sports slang and tucks colorful minor characters into the nooks and crannies. Lovable nerd Alex is an ideal first-person narrator, infusing his tale with wonder and joy as well as an insider’s knowledge of the game. Slips immigrated from Poland; characters seem to default to White.

A peppy, inspirational tale with a sports backdrop.