Saving Arm Pit by Natalie Hyde (Red Cedar Club 2012)

I loved this book!

So far I have enjoyed everyone of the 2012 Red Cedar Club books I have read, but this one has hit a home run for me.

I loved that it is a baseball story.
I love that it is funny.
I loved that it is a story about a small town trying to survive.
I loved the characters.
I love that it is about a bunch of kids working together to make a difference.
I love that in spite of some setbacks, they succeed!

The Harmony Point Terriers Baseball Team are established losers. Other teams harass and laugh at them whenever they get on the field. Someone has even painted out the letters in the town sign so that it now reads ARM PIT.

Then the local postmistress retires and the new postman, Mr. Blackmore, takes on coaching their team. Just as the team seems to be improving, word comes that Canada Post is going to get rid of the local post office and people will have to travel to the nearby city to pick up their mail.

Mr. Blackmore may have to leave, and to make matters worse; it looks like romance is in the air between him and Miss Apfelbaum, town baker extraordinaire. If he leaves, most likely so will she.

Desperate times call for desperate measures. The team starts a letter writing campaign to increase amount of mail passing through the local post office. Because of this, things start to happen and the baseball team begins to see itself as potential winners. Unbeknownst to them, their letter writing actions end up being more important than they can imagine.

There is so much I loved about this book.

The letters that punctuate each chapter are fabulous. One of my favorites was the letter from the school regarding PS days. (Here we call them Pro D days) The teachers were “taking courses and attending seminars including “Monday Morning Panic Attacks” and “Countdown to Summer Vacation.” (I want courses like this at our Pro D days!) Later on, the letter from Sea Chimps in Space was a hilarious and profound example of how the children were able to make their own learning environments a richer place.

This book is sure to be a winner in as many ways as the Terriers Team is.