The Secret at Haney Field is a Baseball Mystery by R.M. Clark and is considered Children’s Fiction. The book comes in at just under 150 pages and it is a very easy and fun read. Summer is over, but this would have been a perfect summer reading book – or a perfect book to read on the weekend once the homework is done! The book is about a twelve year old girl named April O’Day. She won a contest to be the bat retriever for the Harpoon’s – a minor league baseball team in her hometown. I liked April because not only is she a girl who is knowledgeable about baseball, she is like, super super knowledgeable and knows all sorts of stats and can even figure out the pitcher’s tells so she knows what pitch is coming before anyone else and what bats that the players should be using to get more hits!
Next thing she knows, she’s been asked to stay on for the next homestand as well as a bat retriever because the players all like her so much! When she goes to see the owner of the team, he asks her if she can see the mysterious things that are going on at the field. She can – but it seems like it is only her and the team owner who can – and everyone thinks that he is crazy! April is then determined to figure out what is going on at the field and get to the bottom of it. There’s no one better to be on the case than April – her love of baseball and research makes her the perfect person to solve the mystery.
I don’t want to give too much away to what is going on at the field – but if you like the movie Field of Dreams than you should have no problem getting into The Secret at Haney Field. It has a bit of a similar idea to it, but that’s all I’m saying!
As I said this was an easy read and a lot of fun. I totally felt like I was on the field and involved in uncovering the mystery with April and her friend Darren. Definitely recommended!
I received a free e-copy of this book in order to write this review. I was not otherwise compensated.
About the Book
Twelve-year-old April O’Day’s summer has gotten off to a flying start. As the new bat retriever for the Harpoons, her hometown’s minor-league team, she’s fetching bats and doling out great advice to players and coaches alike. In a word, she’s becoming indispensable. But mysterious things are happening at Haney Field, which April and her best friend—and fellow baseball enthusiast—Darren Plummer are determined to uncover. As they quickly learn, this is no ordinary season. In fact, it’s a whole new ballgame!
From the Back Cover:
October 2014:
Last summer was going to be a quiet one. Unlike most of my friends from school, I wasn’t packing up for camp, and I had no plans to travel to an exotic location, like Paris or Rome—or even Cape Cod. Life was going to be simple: eat, ride my bike, read (history, for school; mysteries, for fun), sleep, grow (hopefully), and watch baseball. But then, something extraordinary happened. I won first place in a contest sponsored by our local minor-league baseball team. And suddenly, things were looking up! While I didn’t know it then, my vacation was going to be an incredible adventure—full of mystery, history, and friendship. Believe me, I never imagined I would ever be involved in something so improbable and wonderful. But I was. And lucky me, I got to share it all with my best friend, Darren. It was a summer full of people and events that will stay with me forever. And I’ll never be the same.
~April O’Day