Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park

Growing up in Brooklyn in the early 1950s, Maggie is a devoted Dodgers fan. She likes to go to the local firehouse, where her father used to work, and listen to the games with the firemen there. When she befriends a new fireman, Jim, who is a New York Giants fan, he teaches her how to score games. Later, when Jim is drafted and sent to Korea, she writes to him faithfully until one day he stops writing back. What happened to Jim? Maggie eventually finds out, and has to find a way to help him. Baseball fans will enjoy this picture of life in the 1950s, and how the love of a baseball team knit together a community. An author's note gives background on the Brooklyn Dodgers, the New York Giants, their moves to the West Coast and the Korean Conflict. Keeping Score by Linda Sue Park. Clarion Books, 2008.

George and Marsha Round and Round by James Marshall

Three short easy-read stories about two hippos, George and Marsha, feature illustrationg by James Marshall. In the first, George gives Marsha a cuckoo clock, but the ticking bothers her.She finds a way to make George happy about the gift though. The second story features an imagination filled boat trip, and in the third the friends discover they have very different tastes in art. Originally published in 1988, the stories will give beginning readers a lot of enjoyment. George and Marsha Round and Round by James Marshall. Houghton Mifflin, 1988, 2000.