"I grew up with my left hand tied behind my back. Well, actually, it was only tied up till I was six or seven." Thus begins John H. Ritter's Choosing up Sides, a "debut tale of epiphany and apocalypse," according to Elizabeth Bush in a review for Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books. Ritter's 1998 novel introduces readers to the world of fervent baseball, Bible-thumping religion, and a life-altering choice imposed on a young boy with an incredible talent. Ritter's novel is at once morality tale and sports book, but not your ordinary play-by-play sports book. Winner of the prestigious International Reading Association's Children's Book Award as well as an ALA Best Book for Young Adults citation, Choosing up Sides augured a fine career for the new author. With his second novel, Over the Wall, such a promise was fulfilled. As Chris Crowe colorfully put it in a...