Wednesday Book Review: Get A Hit, Mo! by David A. Adler

Book Review:
Get A Hit, Mo!
By David A. Adler New York : Viking, published by Penguin Group, 2016

Get A Hit, Mo! is a Penguin Young Reader Level 2 (labeled Progressing Reader). I really like this letter to parents and educators (right) that gives activities to enhance the reading (especially if your child or students like to read the same book 100 times, this might vary the re-readings), ideas like adding -ing to words and making connections, in this case, thinking about Mo's feelings when he has a hard time hitting the ball and connecting yourself to the text and thinking about a time when you had a hard time.

This would be a great book to use for sub plans or for a child who is failing for the first time and needs a reminder that it's ok to fail and to try again. It also has an African American main character and family, along with a female coach and a diverse team of children. 

After reading the story, I felt that it was a little didactic and not really interesting to kids. As an adult, I felt like it was predictable (spoiler alert - he gets a hit!). They also repeat that he can't hear what Coach Marie is saying, but they never tell us what she says. I would have liked it if it was something like keep trying, or focus on the ball, or some other either growth mindset or baseball skill related encouragement.

But, if you have a child who loves baseball, is not a big reader, and wants to feel successful at reading and see themselves in a book, this might be a great step into reading book as it has a lot of repetition, short words, and an easy to follow plot. Support a local bookstore and buy it at Anderson's!