BARNSTORMERS Tales of the Travelin' Nine: Game 1

Illustrator Loren Long gets top billing in this homage to baseball barnstorming in the 1890s. Unfortunately, illustrators don't matter much in audiobooks! The strength of Phil Bildner's story is its rich context, which allows listeners with even a passing acquaintance with baseball to understand the slang. Nonetheless, the story's action is continually interrupted by the defining of terminology. Josh Hamilton cannot overcome the challenge of translating print to sound, especially when he must insert asides into most game-related sentences. Questions are many; answers nonexistent. Between the loss of the illustrations and the awkward use of definitions, this story does not survive the transition to audio. N.E.M. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine [Published: OCT/ NOV 07]