The Basics
Title: Get a Hit, Mo!
Author: David A. Adler
ISBN: 9780670016327
Copyright Date: 2016
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Reader Brand: Penguin Young Readers
Level: Level 2 Progressing Reader
Series: Mo Jackson (Don’t Throw It to Mo!)
Thoughts
Mo never gets a hit and is stuck playing right field. No balls ever come to right field. But every time Mo is at the plate, he has a chance to help his team. Will Mo ever get a hit?
This sequel to the 2016 Geisel Award Don’t Throw It to Mo! continues the story of Mo Jackson, the tiniest team member of both his football team and now his baseball team. I connected personally with Mo. I played right field for three years of T-ball and baseball and he’s right — no balls ever come to right field! (Lucky for me, I was so short that I basically didn’t have a strike zone.)
Things I love about this book: racial diversity and gender diversity (Mo’s coach is a woman!), relatable series, lots of repeated words and familiar words for sports fan.
Things I don’t love about this book: the contrast between background (green grass) and black words was not enough for me to feel comfortable, and the book ends with a neat bow again. Mo saves the day again. That kind of a set-up would bother me as a kid after a while. I hope that if there are future Mo books that he has to learn to lose as well.
Even with the minor flaws, recommended for public libraries.