Guide · Baseball
Baseball books for kids 8 to 12
Steve DressingUpdated
The right baseball book for an 8 to 12 year old depends on what else they like. For a kid who likes magic, start with Honus & Me or Mudville. For one who lives at the field, Heat. For a girl who pitches, Out of Left Field or Curveball. For the history, We Are the Ship. All 14 picks are below, each with the publisher's age range.
I played baseball through college and later coached Little League. I also wrote two baseball novels for this age, and they're marked below. Every other book on this list is by another author. The age range on each card is the publisher's, so you can check it against your reader. Giving one as a gift? There are gift tips near the end.
Quick picks
- Two books in one gift: Game Keepers and Down Home, ages 8–12, $29.90 together
- Likes magic and baseball: Honus & Me or Mudville, both ages 8–12
- Plays Little League or travel ball: Heat, ages 10 and up
- A girl who wants to play: Out of Left Field or Curveball, both ages 8–12
- Wants the real history: We Are the Ship, ages 8–12
- Just starting chapter books: Ballpark Mysteries, ages 6–9
- Reads everything: Summerland, ages 10–13
Baseball books with a little magic
These mix the game kids already know with something that couldn't happen at a real ballpark.
FIC
GUT
Honus & Me
Joe Stoshack is cleaning out a neighbor's attic when he finds a Honus Wagner baseball card, and it carries him back to the 1909 World Series.
It's part of Gutman's Baseball Card Adventure series, so a kid who likes it has more to read.
FIC
SCA
Mudville
It has rained in Roy's town for more than 20 years, ever since a game against rival Sinister Bend was called. Then a foster kid named Sturgis lands on Roy's couch, the rain stops, and Roy puts a team together for the rematch.
A tall tale with a real team to root for.
FIC
CHR
The Kid Who Only Hit Homers
Sylvester expects to ride the bench for the Hooper Redbirds until a stranger named Mr. Baruth turns him into a hitter who only hits home runs.
The current paperback is listed for 6 to 10, so it suits the younger or newer reader on this list.
FIC
CHA
Summerland
Ethan Feld is the worst player on his Clam Island team until a mysterious scout pulls him into the Summerlands, where a prophecy says only he can stop a villain called Coyote.
It won the 2003 Mythopoeic Fantasy Award for Children's Literature. The current edition runs more than 500 pages, so it's for a strong reader 10 and up.
My two books belong in this group. In Game Keepers, the kids in the Waterfalls youth league have stopped having fun, and grown-ups are the reason. Then George Starr kicks the ground and finds a world under the field. Down Home is the sequel.
Steve wrote these two
Game Keepers and Down Home
The Waterfalls players have stopped having fun. Then George Starr kicks the ground and finds a world under the field.
Book 1 of the Down Home books. The story continues in Down Home.
Novel · Ages 8–12 · By Steve Dressing
Baseball books that feel real
For the kid who lives at the field and wants a story that could happen to them.
FIC
LUP
Heat
Michael Arroyo, a 12-year-old from Cuba, has a fastball good enough for the Little League World Series. After his father dies, he and his older brother hide from social services, until questions about Michael's age bring the secret out.
It deals with a parent's death and the fear of being split up. The publisher lists it for 10 and up.
FIC
GRE
Baseball Great
Josh's father gets him onto the Titans, a championship youth team whose coach pushes protein shakes and supplements. Josh and his friend Jaden start asking what's really going on.
Steroids are part of the plot, and some reviewers place it at 10 to 14. It's a good way into a talk about adults pushing kids too hard.
Baseball books about girls who play
For a girl who wants a spot in the lineup.
FIC
KLA
Out of Left Field
In 1957, ten-year-old Katy Gordon is the best pitcher in her neighborhood, but Little League won't let her try out because she's a girl. So she digs up the forgotten history of women who played.
It's the third book about the Gordon family.
741.5
CAR
Curveball
Elena Rueda is the only girl on her team and its best player, and she has stopped loving the game. A summer at an empty sandlot with her brother's friends helps her find her way back.
A good pick for a kid who's thinking about quitting.
741.5
SPA
Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper
Seventh grader Gemma helps run the house while her dad works overtime, and she pitches batting practice to her brother Teddy, who everyone expects to go pro. She starts to wonder if baseball could take her somewhere too.
Baseball and history
Two books that show kids what the game meant long before they were born.
FIC
LOR
In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson
Shirley Temple Wong arrives in Brooklyn from China in 1947 without a word of English, and finds her place through baseball and her hero, Jackie Robinson.
796.357
NEL
We Are the Ship: The Story of Negro League Baseball
The history of the Negro Leagues, told in a first-person voice from the 1920s until after Jackie Robinson reached the majors in 1947, with nearly fifty of Nelson's oil paintings.
It won the 2009 Robert F. Sibert Medal and the Coretta Scott King Author Award.
For younger readers, ages 6 to 9
For the youngest end of this range, or a younger brother or sister who wants a baseball book too.
FIC
KEL
Ballpark Mysteries: The Fenway Foul-Up
Cousins Mike and Kate have all-access passes to a Red Sox game, and they have to find out who stole a slugger's lucky bat during batting practice.
It's the first book in a long series.
Giving one as a gift
- Write a note inside the front cover with the date and your name.
- For a series, give the first two books at once so they don't have to wait. The Down Home books are $29.90 together here.
- Pair the book with something from the field: a new ball, or tickets to a spring game.
- Order early. In October, Curveball showed as backordered at some stores, and the publisher listed We Are the Ship as a preorder.
Shopping for a grandkid? See Book gifts for grandkids, ages 4 to 14.
Questions parents ask
What's a good baseball book for a 10 year old?
Honus & Me, Mudville, Out of Left Field and Game Keepers are all for ages 8 to 12. For a 10 year old who plays a lot of ball, Heat is listed for 10 and up.
Are there baseball books with a girl as the main character?
Yes. Out of Left Field, Curveball and Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper are about girls who play, and all three are listed for ages 8 to 12. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson follows a girl who becomes a baseball fan in Brooklyn.
What's a good baseball book gift for a kid who doesn't like to read?
Start with a graphic novel. Curveball and Fox Point's Own Gemma Hopper are both listed for ages 8 to 12. For a younger kid, Ballpark Mysteries is listed for 6 to 9.
What should my kid read after Game Keepers?
Down Home, the second book, picks up where Game Keepers leaves off. After that, try Honus & Me or Summerland for more baseball with magic in it.
Where can I find these books?
Each title above links to its publisher or to Bookshop.org, which supports independent bookstores. Most libraries carry them too. The Down Home books ship from this site.
