The Secret at Haney's field by R.M.Clark : A Review

TITLE: SECRET AT HANEY FIELD

AUTHOR: R.M.CLARK

GENRE: THRILLER/YOUNG ADULT FICTION

ISBN: 9780991364626

SUMMARY:

        Last summer was going to be a quiet one. Unlike most of my friends from school, I wasn’t packing up for camp, and I had no plans to travel to an exotic location, like Paris or Rome—or even Cape Cod. Life was going to be simple: eat, ride my bike, read (history, for school; mysteries, for fun), sleep, grow (hopefully), and watch baseball.

        But then, something extraordinary happened. I won first place in a contest sponsored by our local minor-league baseball team. And suddenly, things were looking up! While I didn’t know it then, my vacation was going to be an incredible adventure—full of mystery, history, and friendship. Believe me, I never imagined I would ever be involved in something so improbable and wonderful.

        But I was. And lucky me, I got to share it all with my best friend, Darren Plummer. It was a summer full of people and events that will stay with me forever. And I’ll never be the same.

April O’Day

Review:

        This book says ‘for ages 8-12’ but it turned out to be quite a jolly read for a 24 year old too! Though the summary makes it sound like typical fiction with probably an emotional incident or two thrown in, the story takes a quick turn with supernatural elements. April O’Day is a regular nerdy girl with a former baseball player Dad, a super-interest and memory for Baseball and an equally intelligent friend Darren Plummer. When she happens to win a ‘bat retriever’ position with a local minor-league baseball team, she is happy and goes on to have an excellent experience. She is so talented with statistics, that she is able to predict correctly about several things on field. Like the type of bat a player could use to improve performance or if a particular player is tipping his move and several such minute (and game changing) details which aren’t usually the talents of twelve year old girls. It amazes the team managers too and not surprisingly her association to the team is extended to the entire summer.

        One evening after a match, after the lights go off, April is quite surprised and shocked to see strange shadows playing ball on field. To add to her worries, she seems to be the only person seeing them. Just when she decides to investigate further, the owner of her team confides to her that he could see them too. The duo (April and Darren) then tries to solve the mystery surrounding these ghost figures and how exactly to deal with them.

        Are these ghost players a danger to her or are the three of them only going crazy? How exactly does she end up dealing with them? Read the book to find out.

        The author’s has a succinct writing style and the overall story is very enjoyable. It was a pretty clever idea to introduce baseball terms at the beginning of the book and he has taken care not to portray April as a statistics spewing machine. She comes across as someone with a lot of spunk and a sports related storyline is all the more engaging. Not really a conventional teenage emotional drama or a typical whodunit, it is sure to leave you thinking.

        More importantly the message towards the end is not in the least preachy and assures one that books are still one of the most important ways to develop character in children and adults alike.

WHAT I LIKED: The smooth narration, a good message to tie up the loose ends.

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER: The sarcastic jokes could have been a tad bit more sarcastic. But hey, that’s not a complaint!

RATING: 4/5

Thanks, Deepika Anandakrishnan for this special guest review!