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    Honus & Me
    Honus & Me
    Honus & Me
    Ebook133 pages1 hour

    Honus & Me

    By Dan Gutman

    4/5

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    About this ebook

    With more than 2 million books sold, the Baseball Card Adventures bring the greatest players in history to life!

    With historical photos and back matter to separate the facts from the fiction, New York Times bestselling author Dan Gutman takes readers on a page-turning trip through baseball’s past. Perfect for young readers who love time travel stories and dream about meeting history’s greatest baseball players!

    Joe Stoshack lives for baseball. He knows everything there is to know about the game—except how to play well. His specialty is striking out.

    Stosh feels like a real loser, and when he takes a low-paying job cleaning a bunch of junk out of his neighbor's attic, he feels even worse—until he comes across a little piece of cardboard that takes his breath away. His heart is racing. His brain is racing. He can hardly believe his eyes. Stosh has stumbled upon a T-206 Honus Wagner—the most valuable baseball card in the world!

    But he's about to find out that it's worth a lot more than money. Because it turns out Stosh has the incredible ability to travel through time using baseball cards—and now he’s headed back to 1909, when Honus Wagner played for the Pittsburgh Pirates in a World Series for the record books. But will the legendary Honus Wagner be able to teach Joe how to be a better baseball player?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateOct 6, 2009
    ISBN9780061973246
    Author

    Dan Gutman

    Dan Gutman is the New York Times bestselling author of the Genius Files series; the Baseball Card Adventure series, which has sold more than 1.5 million copies around the world; and the My Weird School series, which has sold more than 35 million copies. Thanks to his many fans who voted in their classrooms, Dan has received nineteen state book awards and ninety-two state book award nominations. He lives in New York City with his wife. You can visit him online at dangutman.com.

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    Reviews for Honus & Me

    4/5

    82 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      a fun baseball story.
    • 5/5
      I first read this book in jr high school. I am currently re-reading the series as a 22 year old. Wonderful read for both kids and adults who enjoy the thrill of a good sports adventure.
    • 4/5
      This is another baseball ebook I borrowed from the library to read to my son that I ended up liking more than he did. The story is the first in a series in which a boy named Joey discovers he can use baseball cards to travel through time and meet famed players. In this case, it's Pittsburgh great Honus Wagner who takes Joey to the 1909 World Series and even gets him in the game. It's a great fantasy which touches on issues of integrity and honesty. Wagner comes across just a bit too perfect, but then again all accounts have him as a great guy. A good read for kids who like sports from around the ages 7 to 11.
    • 4/5
      As a young reader I never selected sports books because I wasn't interested in sports. After reading this book I can say I wish I hadn't made that judgement as child. This book intrigued me and I learned about a topic I've never studied, baseball. I also liked the moral delimma Joe struggled with throughout the story. He struggled with deciding if he should let the woman know he found an expensive baseball card in her attic. I loved this book because it included time travel, historical fiction and dramatic moments. My heart stopped when the other baseball player ripped up all the Honus baseball cards Joe was given. I also really liked the themes throughout the story. It would be a fun read aloud.
    • 4/5
      While cleaning out his neighbor's attic, Joe finds an incredibly rare Honus Wagner baseball card. What makes it even more rare is that Joe can travel through time and interact with Honus when he is holding the card. Thus begins the biggest adventure of Joe's baseball loving life! As he joins Honus for the 1909 World Series, he learns more about baseball and more about life. Such a fun read for a baseball fan! Not only was there tons of baseball trivia and information, the story was fast paced and exciting. I think that the players who are more well known (ie. Jackie Robinson) would be a great way to introduce this series to boys who love baseball even though this is the first one.
    • 5/5
      The story was about a young boy who wanted to get some money for a new pair of shoes, so he decided to clean up his next door neighbor attic for money. While he was cleaning the attic he found a baseball card that had Honus name on it. The card was magical. Honus and him went on adventures and at the end of the story the little boy found out that Honus use to date his next door neighbor. This is a story about moral values and honesty children should have. This is a great book for fourth graders.
    • 3/5
      It's a very good book and sporty kind of book
    • 4/5
      It is about a boy named Joe. His parents split up but his mom told him to clean out his old neighbors attic and found the greatest thing which was a Honus Wagner 1909 baseball card.- DG
    • 5/5
      come on Honus, help me at least hit the stinkin ball
    • 4/5
      Joe Stoshack loves baseball and is excited when he finds a rare baseball card of Honus Wagner. When he touches it, he travels back in time and learns more about this shadowy baseball figure.
    • 5/5
      This is a great book. A kid who struggles on his baseball team travels back in time using a Honus Wagner baseball card. He goes back to when Honus was in the world series against Ty Cobb and the detroit tigers. He learns a valuable lesson there too.
    • 4/5
      Boys into sports may really like this book.

    Book preview

    Honus & Me - Dan Gutman

    INTRODUCTION

    THE FIRST TIME I TOUCHED A BASEBALL CARD, I FELT A strange tingling sensation all over my body.

    It was sort of like the feeling you get when you touch your fingers lightly against a television screen when the set is on. Static electricity jumps off the glass and onto your skin, or something like that. I’ll never forget it.

    I must have been four or five the first time this happened, but ever since then I’ve felt that feeling whenever I touched certain baseball cards. It’s kind of creepy.

    I never got the tingling sensation from football cards or basketball cards. A plain old piece of cardboard wouldn’t do it (believe me, I tried). Only baseball cards, and only certain baseball cards. Old cards worked best.

    I never knew what was going on with these baseball cards, but I always thought there was something—oh, magical—about them. Then something happened to me that made it all clear. And that’s what this story is about.

    Joe Stoshack

    PLAYING HARDBALL

    1

    HEY! ELEPHANT EARS! WHEN YOU WALK DOWN THE street, Stoshack, you look like a taxicab with both doors open!

    The words burned in my ears, which do stick out a little from my head, I must admit.

    I was at the plate. It was two outs in the sixth inning, and I was the last hope for the Yellow Jackets. We were down by a run, and the bases were empty. Their pitcher was only eleven, but he’d already whiffed me twice.

    That crack about my ears threw me off, just enough so that I tipped the ball instead of hitting it with the meat of my bat. That was strike two.

    Behind me, I could hear some of the kids on my team already packing up their equipment to go home. There wasn’t much chance that I was going to smack one out of the park. I hadn’t hit one out of the infield all season.

    It’s not that I’m not strong. My arms are really big, and people tell me my chest is broader than any other seventh grader they’ve seen. I’m short for a twelve-year-old and a little stocky.

    I’m actually a pretty good ballplayer. But those insults really get to me. The last time up, I struck out when they said my legs looked like a pair of parentheses. You know—(). Bowlegged? I guess I’m kinda funny-looking. If I wasn’t me, I’d probably be making fun of me, too.

    Nobody likes to make the last out. I sure didn’t want to strike out looking at the last pitch whiz past me. I was ready to swing at just about anything. The pitcher went into his windup again, and I stood ready at the plate. The pitch looked good, and I brought back my arms to take a rip at it.

    Hey Stoshack! their shortstop shouted as the ball left the pitcher’s hand, Is that your nose or a door-knocker? I’d never heard that one before. It threw off my timing. It felt like a good swing, but I hit nothing. As usual.

    "Steeerike threeeeeeeeeeeee!" the ump yelled as the ball smacked into the catcher’s mitt.

    Again. My third strikeout of the game. Did I swing over it? Under it? Too early? Too late? I couldn’t even tell. All I know is that I wanted to shrivel up and fade away. The other team hooted with glee. Even some of my teammates were snickering.

    THROWING MONEY IN THE GARBAGE

    2

    JOEY, I’M HOME! MOM SHOUTED AS THE SCREEN DOOR slammed behind her. How was the game?

    Lousy, I reported honestly. I fanned three times and let a grounder go between my legs to let the winning run score.

    Mom threw her arms around me and ran her fingers through my hair.

    You’ll get ’em next time, slugger.

    She flopped down in a chair. I could tell she was exhausted. Mom is on her feet most of the day. She works as a nurse in Hazelwood Hospital here in Louisville.

    So what did you make me for dinner? she asked with a smile, I’m beat.

    Oh, Mom, let’s go out to eat tonight.

    Negative, she replied. When you sign your big league contract, you’ll take me out on the town. ’Till then, we’re on a tight budget.

    Fast food? I suggested hopefully.

    Ugh! she replied, holding her nose. I’d rather starve.

    I wouldn’t say we were poor, but I sure wouldn’t say we were rich either. We never had a lot of money, but things got really tough after my parents split up two years ago. My dad lived in Louisville too, in an apartment. He came over to visit from time to time.

    Money was always a problem. When I was a little kid my folks used to argue a lot about it. Dad always seemed to have a tough time landing a job. When he found one, he never seemed to be able to hold on to it very long.

    I’ve always thought that if only my parents had had more money, they wouldn’t have split up. Mom said that was ridiculous. Money had nothing to do with it, she told me. Besides, she said, money doesn’t make you happy.

    But how would she know? She never had any.

    I always wished I had a million dollars. At least I could see if she was right or not. Even a half a million would have been nice.

    Until we win the lottery, I’d try to make a few dollars here and there doing odd jobs. Yard work. Raking leaves and stuff. The winter before, Kentucky got a lot more snow than usual, and I made a bunch of money shoveling people’s sidewalks and driveways. I gave some of the money to my mom. The rest of it I spent on baseball cards.

    Dad gave me his baseball-card collection and got me started collecting cards when I was seven. I may not have been a great hitter, but I knew more about cards than any kid around. I put together a complete set of guys who played shortstop. That was always my position.

    Mom says buying baseball cards is like throwing money into a garbage can. But I figure a kid should be allowed to have one harmless vice. It’s not like I drink or take drugs or anything.

    And besides, my baseball cards actually saved us money. When I got holes in my sneakers, I would slip a card inside so I didn’t need to buy a new pair right away. I always used lousy cards, of course. I wouldn’t think of stepping on a card that was worth anything.

    I got you some work today, Joe, Mom said as we chowed down on leftovers.

    Oh, yeah? What?

    Miss Young needs her attic cleaned out. She’ll pay you five dollars. I told her you’d take it.

    "Oh, man!"

    Amanda Young is this really old lady who lives next door. I know she’s way over one hundred, because my mom showed me an article from the paper that talked about Louisville’s Century Club. She’s pretty peppy for an old lady. Her skin is really wrinkly, though.

    Miss Young never had any kids, and she was never married. I don’t even think she has any relatives who are still alive. She’s been living by herself in that dilapidated old house for as long as anybody can remember. She never comes outside. Her groceries are brought in.

    My mom stops over to Miss Young’s now and then to see if she’s okay. I guess that’s how I got this job.

    It’s not like I don’t appreciate the work or anything. It’s just that Amanda

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