The story of Rafael Rosales is really the story of two characters, Rafael and Maya, and two times, Rafael's boyhood in the Dominican Republic and present-day Minnesota. It's certainly not a typical format for a book, this one pulls it off nicely. At first, the jumping back and forth can feel a bit jarring to the reader, but the flow back and forth starts to make sense, as events from one time and place compliment and inform events from the other time and place.

It also takes the story on from the viewpoint of a character who is not a baseball fanatic, which will be helpful to readers who are not as interested in the game of baseball. For though this is a baseball book, it's not a story that centers on a game of baseball. Rather, that is simply the common element that exists throughout and the connective tissue between the different times and characters. Readers will discover more about the characters' lives, ambitions, and Rafael's hardships through the reading than anything that is particularly baseball centered.

I honestly loved this book. It was one of those stories that I couldn't stop reading once I had started. I think it might be a book for the modern era that we can compare to In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson from decades ago. It has the same unexpected storytelling angle that made that book so magical years ago. I look forward to adding this one to my shelves when it becomes available and hope it makes as big a splash as I expect it to.

What could a young Dominican baseball fan have in common with an American daughter of an executive of a large corporation?

Rafael’s story is told over time beginning with the first chapter “Rafael, Many Years Ago” and following his goal of making a major-league baseball team in the United States. He and many of his peers see this as a way out of poverty. In the early days, he rescues a girl’s chicken, a girl who lives in destitution greater than his own.

Maya’s story begins in the present day during Rafael’s first year in the minor leagues. Her activism to save the bees in the environment runs afoul of the pesticide manufactured by her father’s company. Her fondness for plants loved by bees like thistles and dandelions that her sister calls “weeds” triggers her explanation, “A weed is a plant you don’t want. I want these, so they aren’t weeds.” Her love of baseball and a post on her sister’s blog lead to a friendship with the girl named Bijou who owned the rescued chicken and a link to Rafael.

The difficulty of life in the Dominican Republic and cautionary practices as Rafael pursues his baseball dream contrast with the affluence and moral dilemma for Maya as she decides how far to take her passion when her father’s job is at stake. I found the move back and forth between the two characters easy enough, but was a bit disconcerted for a while by the time with Rafael’s taking place over years while Maya’s stayed in the present.

Ultimately, there is a secret both Rafael and Maya share that could wreak havoc in the lives of people they care about. Right and wrong are not as clear as they should be. This is a good middle grade read with a nice window into the world of aspiring baseball players common to the Dominican Republic.

Rooting for Rafael Rosales by Kurtis Scaletta is the story two story strands with different points of view in different time periods. The first character; Rafael, the baseball player, from the Dominican Republic as a boy and as a young man. The second character; Maya, a young tween from Minneapolis. It's certainly not a typical format for a book, this one pulls it off nicely. At first, the jumping back and forth can feel a bit jarring to the reader, but the flow back and forth starts to make sense, as events from one time and place compliment and inform events from the other time and place.

It also takes the story on from the viewpoint of a character who is not a baseball fanatic, which will be helpful to readers who are not as interested in the game of baseball. For though this is a baseball book, it's not a story that centers on a game of baseball. Rather, that is simply the common element that exists throughout and the connective tissue between the different times and characters. Readers will discover more about the characters' lives, ambitions, and Rafael's hardships through the reading than anything that is particularly baseball centered.

I received this ARC from Albert Whitman & Company via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you had told me that one book could make me care about bees, business ethics, the Dominican Republic, and the politics of baseball I'd have laughed. But Scaletta has put together a pretty remarkable story here. What strikes me most is that it's about caring - caring about people, the environment, and that hard to define "right thing". It draws a line between legal and right and asks the reader to consider complicated moral issues. These are big questions for a middle grade novel and Scaletta doesn't really try to answer them, only to get kids thinking about them, which is far more important to my mind. This a great book to discuss with a group.

Loved everything about this book! A coming of age story which takes place at the intersection of farm team baseball and e budding environmentalist. The Sudden end, or maybe I didn't want it to end, makes me think there may be a sequel.

Once again, Scaletta has written a book that makes me give a damn about baseball.

That said, I liked the current story better--the girl struggling for her family to understand and respect her environmentalist ways, her desire for a pollinator garden, even though her dad works for one of those companies that makes terrible pesticides. Her story is balanced by the story of kids growing up in the Dominican Republic, dreaming of a future playing professional baseball.

It's not about sports. It's not about family struggles. It's about kids who want their lives to have meaning, to make their lives count for something. It's about kids growing up with unfairness and working within those confines to make something fair. It gives kids the credit they deserve for being people, with thoughts and brains and desires, not just goofy smiles and catch phrases.

Copy provided via Netgalley.

ROOTING FOR RAFAEL ROSALES by Kurtis Scaletta tells the connected stories of a boy with a passion for baseball and a girl who becomes a fan.

Told as connected stories, readers learn about the dreams of two young people. One hopes to become a professional baseball player and the other struggles to save the world’s bee population.

Librarians will find the connected narratives and compelling characters make this an unusually emotional story. The mix of the baseball and bee themes contribute to the appeal.

Published by Albert Whitman & Company on April 25, 2017. ARC courtesy of the publisher.