Kindle Price:	$6.99
Sold by:	Random House LLC Price set by seller.

Promotions apply when you purchase

Add an

audiobook with Audible narration for $7.49

Audiobook Price: $6.30

Save: $1.19 (-19%)

Read with our free app

You've subscribed to ! We will preorder your items within 24 hours of when they become available. When new books are released, we'll charge your default payment method for the lowest price available during the pre-order period.

Update your device or payment method, cancel individual pre-orders or your subscription at
Your Memberships & Subscriptions

There was an error. We were unable to process your subscription due to an error. Please refresh and try again.

Follow the author

David A. Kelly

+ Follow

More books from this author

Ballpark Mysteries #1: The Fenway Foul-up Kindle Edition

by David A. Kelly (Author), Mark Meyers (Illustrator) Format: Kindle Edition

4.6 485 ratings

Book 1 of 19: Ballpark Mysteries

See all formats and editions

Now leading off the line-up—book #1 in a brand-new early chapter book mystery series where each book is set in a different American ballpark!

Thanks to Kate's mom, a sports reporter, cousins Mike Walsh and Kate Hopkins have tickets to the Red Sox game and All Access passes to Fenway Park. But as they're watching batting practice before the game, the lucky bat of Red Sox star slugger Big D is stolen . . . right in front of dozens of people. Without the bat, Big D can't seem to hit a thing. Can Kate and Mike figure out who pinched the bat before Big D and the Sox chalk up a loss?

The Fenway Foul-Up includes a fun fact page about Boston's Fenway Park.

Cross Ron Roy's mystery series with Matt Christopher's sports books and you get the Ballpark Mysteries: fun, puzzling whodunnits aimed right at beginning readers.

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Two nine-year-old sleuths bring sharp powers of observation and deduction into play when a Red Sox slugger's favorite bat disappears. Cousins Mike and Kate are thrilled when Kate's sports-reporter mom brings them to a game, and they are up to the challenge when star player Big D's bat goes missing after batting practice. Folding information about Fenway Park and its colorful history into the tale, Kelly also artfully slips in simple red herrings along with real clues to the thief's identity and the bat's whereabouts that sharper readers may pick up before the young detectives do. Game action takes a backseat to the investigation here, but Big D gets his bat back in time for some late-inning heroics against the Oakland A's, and afterward presents his awed young fans with suitable rewards. Leading off a formulaic series that will take Mike and Kate to baseball parks around the major leagues, this book should draw baseball fans as well as budding whodunit aficionados. Grades 2-4. --John Peters

Review

"Folding information about Fenway Park and its colorful history into the tale, Kelly also artfully slips in simple red herrings along with real clues to the thief’s identity and the bat’s whereabouts that sharper readers may pick up before the young detectives do...Leading off a formulaic series that will take Mike and Kate to baseball parks around the major leagues, this book should draw baseball fans as well as budding whodunit aficionados." - Booklist

"A new series for emerging chapter-book readers combines the allure of baseball parks with the challenge of solving a mystery...Historical details about Fenway Park, including the secret code found on the manual scoreboard, a look at Wally the mascot and a peek into the gift shop, will keep the young baseball fan reading." - Kirkus Reviews

"Kelly throws in plenty of behind-the-scenes Fenway Park trivia (both in the story and in an appendix) and keeps the story moving at a quick pace, which should easily hold baseball-lovers' attention." - Publisher's Weekly

"...Any 6- 9 year old baseball fan would step to the plate and devour this book like a box of Crackerjacks! Kelly intersperses the perfect mix of sports action, crime-solving and facts about Fenway Park." - Examiner.com

From the Trade Paperback edition.

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ B004FGMPLC
Publisher ‏ : ‎ Random House Books for Young Readers (February 22, 2011)
Publication date ‏ : ‎ February 22, 2011
Language ‏ : ‎ English
File size ‏ : ‎ 4790 KB
Text-to-Speech ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Screen Reader ‏ : ‎ Supported
Enhanced typesetting ‏ : ‎ Enabled
X-Ray ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Word Wise ‏ : ‎ Enabled
Sticky notes ‏ : ‎ On Kindle Scribe
Print length ‏ : ‎ 114 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #915,447 in Kindle Store (See Top 100 in Kindle Store)
- #79 in Children's Explore United States Fiction
- #174 in Children's Baseball Books (Kindle Store)
- #1,137 in Children's Baseball Books (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.6 485 ratings

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

Videos

Help others learn more about this product by uploading a video!

Upload your video

About the author

Follow authors to get new release updates, plus improved recommendations.

David A. Kelly

Brief content visible, double tap to read full content.

Full content visible, double tap to read brief content.

David A. Kelly is the author of dozens of children's books, including: the Ballpark Mysteries, Football Mysteries, and MVP series from Random House and Curveball Books. His non-fiction picture books include Tee Time on the Moon, about Alan Shepard playing golf on the moon, and Miracle Mud, about baseball rubbing mud. He also wrote the non-fiction chapter book Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse. More information is available at www.davidakellybooks.com. School and library visits are available at www.dakvisits.com.

In addition, Mr. Kelly is a freelance travel, technology, and business writer who has written for the New York Times, Boston Globe, Chicago Sun-Times, Microsoft, Oracle, Symantec, and many other companies, newspapers, and websites.

Follow David A. Kelly on Facebook @davidakellybooks, Instagram @davidakellybooks, X/Twitter @davidakelly

Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5

485 global ratings

How customer reviews and ratings work

Reviews with images

See all photos

Sort reviews by

Top reviews from the United States

There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later.

Patricia

Great book for young readers.

Reviewed in the United States on July 4, 2023

Verified Purchase

I think this will inspire our young reader to want to read for fun.

Helpful

Megan

Great for reluctant readers!

Reviewed in the United States on November 30, 2022

Verified Purchase

My son loved this book! It's hard to entice him in to a "plain black and white" chapter book, as he loves graphic novels. But once I bribed him to read this first chapter of this book, he couldn't put it down! He has read two others, and put them on his Christmas list. I highly recommend these books!

One person found this helpful

Helpful

villebilly

great kids mystery book

Reviewed in the United States on July 28, 2015

Verified Purchase

This is a great book if your kid likes mystery books and/or baseball. It takes place at a real place (Fenway) and describes many of the peculiarities that are specific to the park. The main characters are two kids who have access to the park through a parent who works there. Both kids love baseball and are problem solvers always looking for clues.

I have liked what I have read of this series since they all feature the unique aspects of different baseball parks/cities. They only think I haven't liked is that a few of the books mention divorce - which some parent may not be ready to speak to their kids about (especially if they are advanced readers for their age).

6 people found this helpful

Helpful

leen

Beginning Chapter Books

Reviewed in the United States on November 8, 2016

Verified Purchase

Bought this for one of my 7 year oldgrandson for Christmas and he hasn't gotten it yet - BUT - this is actually the 2nd one I have purchased. Bought it last year for another grandson and he liked it. Just starting to read Chapter books and this seemed to hold his interest.

Helpful

Danielle

My 2nd grader loves it!

Reviewed in the United States on September 26, 2012

Verified Purchase

My son is 7 years old, and LOVES baseball. I could not get him interested in a book to read for the longest time - until I found this series. He is currently reading Fenway Foul-Up and will be doing a book report on it at school. Next on his list is the Dodger book (Ballpark Mysteries #2).

These books are exciting for him to read! And all the little tidbits of information regarding the actual ballpark, is wonderful. His dream is to one day go to Fenway, so this book is perfect.

Thank you to the author! My child LOVES to read chapter books now!!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful

Mike Winsborough

Great for young readers

Reviewed in the United States on October 7, 2021

Verified Purchase

I just finished reading this book with my 8 year old grandson and he loved it! We highly recommend this book!

Helpful

Christine L. Champlin

Great for a young baseball fan!

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2018

Verified Purchase

A perfect read for my 8 year old son. He is a fan of mysteries and baseball. Stayed in the car to finish it - that is when I know it is good! A good length as a read alone. He was interested in the plot and was able to make a good guess at solving the mystery after reading all the clues.

Reviewed in the United States on May 24, 2013

Verified Purchase

Every so often we grandparents like to surprise the grandchildren with packages sent through Amazon. The best buy for the money are books and CDs, of course. I usually buy 2, keep one, and then read alternate chapters with the older child while on Skype. This particular book will have to be read to the younger boy by his mother until the skills are ready for the big time!

4 people found this helpful

Helpful