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The Barnstormers series
Reviewed by Camille Powell, Book Moot
Baseball evokes a mythical and even mystical hold on our national imagination—a hold which is celebrated in movies like
The Natural, Field of Dreams and Sandlot. Loren Long and Phil Bildner's dedications to the
Barnstormers books reflect their own love of our national pastime. Long dedicates the books to his father who
introduced him to "The Big Red Machine," i.e. the Cincinnati Reds. Bildner includes individual baseball players,
broadcasters, writers "and all the other believers in baseball and keepers of the game."
Game 1 begins the story of the three Payne children, Griffith, Ruby and Graham, as they travel from town to town
in the year 1899, with a barnstorming baseball team called the Travelin' Nine. The team is made up of former Roughriders
who fought in the Spanish American War. The children’s father was one of them but he is now dead. They play exhibition
baseball in order to earn money for the Payne family. Mrs. Payne also plays on the team, disguised as Guy, the catcher.
Griffith, Ruby and Graham love the game and treasure a special baseball that their father carried during the war. The
ball is worn and has a deep hole in one side, but it is a tangible link to him. The kids have discovered that when the
three of them are holding the baseball together, it usually brings the team good luck.
During a game in Cincinnati, the children unexpectedly see odd visions on the field during the game and, for the first
time, their team loses. It is apparent that the Travelin' Nine players also saw the apparitions but no one else did. As the
book draws to a close Griffith shares a warning from their Uncle Owen with his sister Ruby about someone called The
Chancellor who poses a threat to their family.
Game 2 finds the barnstormers arriving in Louisville, Kentucky to play the Louisville Summer Sluggers. Before the
game, the kids tour the city and visit historic Churchill Downs. As the game proceeds, their team is facing another defeat
and another loss of the money purse. Determined to help, Griffith, Ruby, and Graham begin to unlock the mystery of the
baseball's magic and try to use it to help the Travelin' Nine win the game. The appearance of a menacing stranger in the
stands gives credence to a blood-stained warning note from their uncle Owen to protect the baseball and keep it a secret.
Game 1 establishes the characters and background of the barnstormers but the ending and the direction of the series
were too ambiguous. In Game 2, Bildner focuses his strong storytelling and shapes the questions surrounding the Travelin'
Nine, the mystery of the baseball, and the danger facing the Payne family. Reading the two books consecutively left me
eagerly looking forward to Game 3 to learn more.
In addition to lively play-by-play baseball action, the author works in history and interesting facts about the time period
and the cities the team visits. Baseball terms and period lingo are explained in the wide margins.
The design of the books is very inviting. They feel good in the hand and colorful covers engage the imagination. The
endpapers feature a map of the USA which tracks the team's travels. Biographical information for Long and Bildner is
reproduced on vintage baseball cards printed at the end of the book. Inside, there is a nice use of white space on the
page, making the books very reader-friendly to middle grade readers.
Loren Long's artwork gives the books their signature look and spirit. His soft, black and white illustrations have almost
a dreamy quality. The way he draws the characters fully evokes their personalities and qualities. The full and double page
picture spreads enhance the storyline and appear frequently, which supports and rewards young readers. Long's most
original picture elements in the book are the decorated capital letters that begin the first word of each chapter.
Standing, diving, reaching and stretching baseball players cleverly form these capital letters.
As a librarian, I have observed that there can never be too many baseball books in a school library. Kids will be eager to
read this series.
Game 1: Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin' Nine, by Loren Long and
Phil Bildner. Simon & Schuster. ISBN: 2007 1-4169-1863-9.
Game 2: Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin' Nine, by Loren Long and
Phil Bildner. Simon & Schuster, 2007. ISBN: 1-4169-1864-7.
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