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Determined to have his baseball team, the McCarthy Roaders, beat their arch-rivals, the Hemlock Street Poisons, Shooter Carroll tries to recruit a newcomer to the neighborhood--a big kid named John Johnson

Gr 5-7 The basement is in Shooter Carroll's house, and the baseball is played with broom handles and tennis balls on cramped sandlots. Shooter and his pals constitute the McCarthy Street Roaders, and just now they're not having much luck against their arch-rivals, the Hemlock Street Poisons. Then, a new family moves into the neighborhood and one of the Roaders recognizes the new kid as a first-rate ballplayer he had seen at a baseball camp. But John says that he no longer plays, and the frown on his face cuts off further questioning. His younger sister joins the team, however, and soon reveals to Shooter her brother's secret. Most of the action takes place on the ballfield, with the games described at some length. Still, there is more going on here than just the game being played. By the end of the book, both Shooter and John have learned something about dealing with fear, a pony league has been organized, the Roaders have banded together to help trouble-prone Games, the pitcher, begin to behave more responsibly, and the Poisons have been vanquished at last. Fast-paced and readable, this should prove a pleasant diversion for sports fans. The Roaders are basically decent kids, and likable. The same can be said for this book. Although not as well-written as Alfred Slote's sports titles, this is an acceptable choice for sports fiction collections. Elaine Fort Weischedel, Turner Free Library, Randolph, Mass. Copyright 1987 Cahners Business Information.