A look at the baseball from its beginnings to today.

The Away Place by author Ruth Tiger is the poignant story of a special bond between John, a man with Down Syndrome, and an idealist doctoral student, Sarah Richardson. In the turbulent 1970’s, a death-bed confession by Sarah’s mother spurs Sarah to become an activist for protecting the rights of intellectually challenged adults. Sarah founds a group home for previously institutionalized severely disabled adults who move into her start-up facility with little preparation for living in the outside world. Sarah finds herself drawn to John, an especially sensitive and gentle man who grew up in the institution never knowing his family. When tragedy strikes the group home, Sarah is spurred to discover secrets about her mother’s past. What happened to her mother that will bring Sarah’s past, present, and future to full circle?Tiger writes with amazing clarity, shifting throughout her narration between John’s and Sarah’s perspectives. Through these vastly differing lenses, the reader experiences the world of those with disabilities in unexpected and intriguing ways. Tiger’s brilliant novel is rich with emotion, complex characters, and a dramatic ending that will stay with you long after you’ve finished the book.

Here's help in selecting current, nonfiction books that will get boys excited about reading. Enticing boys to read is still a hot topic. With chapters like "Disasters and Mysteries," "Gross and Disgusting," "Machines and the Military," and "Prehistoric Creatures," Gotcha Again for Guys!: More Nonfiction Books to Get Boys Excited about Reading is a treasure trove of recent nonfiction books that will interest boys in grades 3-8. This sixth entry in Baxter and Kochel's Gotcha series covers books published between 2007 and 2009, with a few oldies-but-goodies also included. The book is organized into 12 thematic chapters, each of which offers booktalks for a select number of titles, followed by a list of other high-interest, well-reviewed titles that correspond with the chapter's topic. Features new to this volume include numerous booklists to be copied and saved, as well as profiles of new and innovative nonfiction authors writing for this age group. In addition, the book features interviews with seven male authors of nonfiction books for boys.

When Cynthia, an ardent tomboy, and her younger sister Abby, the family drama queen, return to their familial home after the death of their mother, the mysteries of the past begin to unravel as diaries are found and forgotten memories elicit tears of joy and sadness. Their very souls are encrusted in a house where rivalry and devotion coexisted all while leaving their indelible prints.

It took a lot for Rissa and Dench Traylor to get friends and family on the right track, but they did and found each other in the process. Now, what about their own marriage? Will a baby ever make three? A series of miscarriages forces them to make some hard decisions, decisions that place a strain on their marriage. As the tension grows, Rissa must remember that Dench married her because he loved her, not because he loved the prospect of kids.

JavaScript, and each different version of JavaScript, interacts differently with each variety of Web browser, leaving Web developers scrambling to write code that will work in all the major browsers. "JavaScript Developer's Dictionary" brings all these variants into one volume, breaking down every object in the JavaScript language and how it applies to each browser.

"A girl doesn't belong on the all-star team. She isn't tough enough." The coaches and parents didn't even bother to whisper. To them, I was not an all-star. I was the girl playing shortstop. I was the girl up to bat. I was the easy out. For weeks, I went to practice and stared down a coach who lobbed me the ball and stuck me on the bench. Then I went home to a father who told me I needed to play harder and study more. Nothing I did on the field or in school was ever enough. One day I stood up at the plate with what felt like three strikes already against me. It came down to one pitch, one swing...one moment to prove them all wrong. -- Rosie