The Rhino in Right Field by Stacy Dekeyser - OPTIONAL

The Rhino in Right Field by Stacy Dekeyser, 257 pages.  Margaret K. McElderry (Simon and Schuster), 2018.  $18.  

Content: Language: G; Mature Content: G; Violence: PG.  

BUYING ADVISORY: MS – OPTIONAL  

AUDIENCE APPEAL: AVERAGE  

Nick lives with his Greek immigrant parents and helps at the family shoe store.  Nick and his best friend, Ace, are excited about a bat boy contest that the city’s baseball team is hosting, but Nick’s father wants Nick to work at the shoe store on the day of the contest.  Nick and Ace come up with a lie for Nick’s parents and get him out of work, but as with most lies, it complicates things for Nick.  Nick deals with family dynamics, a rhino from the local zoo, a bully, a new girl who has baseball skills and his own sub-par baseball skills.  

This book is really cute and I enjoyed Nick and his struggles.  There is just enough going on in the story to make it interesting and I wanted to keep reading.  My only issue with this book is that I tried to read it with my elementary age son and there are too many colloquialisms and expressions that confused him.  Also, the parents speak halted English which is fine for a fluent reader but not all elementary age readers would be able to understand.  Although the cover looks like it’s for younger readers, a middle grade reader would enjoy it more.  

Reviewer, C. Peterson