ROOTING FOR RAFAEL ROSALES by Kurtis Scaletta tells the connected stories of a boy with a passion for baseball and a girl who becomes a fan.
Told as connected stories, readers learn about the dreams of two young people. One hopes to become a professional baseball player and the other struggles to save the world’s bee population.
Librarians will find the connected narratives and compelling characters make this an unusually emotional story. The mix of the baseball and bee themes contribute to the appeal.
Published by Albert Whitman & Company on April 25, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher. ( )

Two stories, from two points of view, eight years apart, are told in this baseball story. Rafael, an 11-year-old in the Dominican Republic, is passionate about baseball and dreams of being recruited by American major league baseball. Maya lives in Minnesota and becomes a fan of Rafael's when she sees him play in a minor league game. Maya is quite worried about the decline of bees and decides unrealistically (she knows) that if Rafael's is successful, it will lead to prosperity for the bees.
For some reason the storyline with Maya and her older sister Grace (a baseball blogger) seems stronger than Rafael's storyline. Because you know Rafael will fulfill his dream, perhaps that makes his story more shallow. Even Rafael's brother Iván seems to be a more nuanced character.
Baseball fans with definitely enjoy this. ( )