The Card by Jim Devitt

 

Winning an essay contest definitely turned out to be excellent for Van or so he thought.  His prize was the opportunity to be a bat boy in the dugout of a major league baseball team and rub shoulders with all the big names.  His dad was thrilled, and so was he.  On his first day with the team, his dad gave him a special baseball card that he described as magic. But.....was the card really magic or was it bad news?

Bad news happened not too long after the card appeared, and what was to be magic turned out to be something Van wished he had not even heard of.   What would have been the reason he won the contest in the first place, and what was so important about a Moe Berg baseball card to cause all this trouble?  Did either have anything to do with the things starting to happen in his life?

Baseball fans will definitely enjoy the book because of the details about the behind-the-scenes activities that happen in a locker room of a baseball team.  Mystery fans will enjoy the book as well....the ending was filled with action.  :)

I enjoyed the book....it is a Young Adult read.  It is fast moving, and the added interest of the mysterious men in black suits keeps you going.  The author had good development of the plot and the characters and definitely had you guessing until the end.  5/5