Left Out in Right Field
Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend
by
Book Cover & Preview Text
Base on balls. Not what I had in mind, but I’ll take it, thought Jenna, as she sprinted to first base.
As she settled in at first to watch the next batter, Coach Liza, the first base coach, said, “Now remember. When I say ‘GO,’ you run as fast as you can to second and you slide.”
Slide! Jenna thought. She had forgotten about sliding.
Jenna left the base every time the ball left the pitcher’s hand, anticipating the ball passing the catcher. Finally, the pitcher threw one too far to the catcher’s right and it bounced against the backstop.
“Go!” Coach Liza yelled.
Jenna took off running and sat down with her legs in the shape of a ‘four.’ Her rear end landed right on top of second base, instead of in front of it. She laughed along with the short stop, who had been there to receive the throw if the catcher had thrown it.
Hey, it may not have been pretty, thought Jenna, but the base was more padded than the dirt. At least I was safe.
“Boys and girls, you’ve done an excellent job today,” she said. “Most of the water stayed in the buckets!”
Everyone laughed and looked at the table where Olivia was sitting. One of her partners had dropped the apple into the water instead of placing it and water had splashed onto their table.
“The volunteers need to take the buckets back to the restroom to dump out the water,” explained the teacher. “I’ll be around with paper towels and we’ll dry the objects and put them away.”
“I’ll take the bucket to the restroom,” said Lorelei, grabbing the handle. “I don’t want to dry these things. I don’t like cleaning.”
Jenna responded, “She said THE volunteers. She meant the same ones that got the water in the first place.” She wrapped her hands around the bottom of the bucket to keep Lorelei from taking it.
“She didn’t say that,” said Lorelei. “I can take it. You stay here.” She tugged on the handle, trying to pull the bucket closer to her. Jenna held on.
“Let me ask her,” Jenna said, looking over her shoulder for Mrs. Morton. As she swiveled in her chair, her grip on the bucket relaxed a little. At the same time, Lorelei began to stand up and tugged a little harder on the handle. Jenna felt the bucket slide out of her hands.
“AAAHHH!” Lorelei screamed, as the cold water sloshed all over her. Her blue shirt was a darker blue than it had been just a moment before. She had water dripping from her nose and she was wiping her eyes. Her blond hair was still pulled back in a barrette, but it now hung straight and wet instead of curly and dry. The empty bucket was on the floor next to her.
“Lorelei!” exclaimed Mrs. Morton. “What happened?”
“It’s all her fault,” shouted Lorelei, pointing at Jenna.
“It wasn’t my fault,” Jenna said, looking at Mrs. Morton.
“You four girls come into the hall with me, please,” said the teacher.
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Book Details
About the Book
Left Out in Right Field is the second book in the Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend series. Jenna McMann is back along with her friends, Olivia and Emilio, as well as her classmate, Lorelei.
Jenna still spends a lot of time on the softball field playing for her league team. At the ballpark, at school (both in the classroom and on the playground), and at home, she encounters disappointment and exclusion. She has to face the fact that "life is not fair," and that she doesn't have to like it!
Jenna's many activities allow her to experience the highs and lows of life in the third grade. Join her as she deals with problems typical for all students and learns to handle herself, if not always with grace, with resignation.
About the Author
I carry a book with me everywhere I go. I have spent the past several summers in soccer complexes and ballparks in different cities and states, and I have always carried a book to read. People would comment that they wished they had thought to bring a book, also.
When the girls on my daughter's 10-and-under softball team saw me reading, they would claim that they didn't like to read because there weren't any good books to read. I found that difficult to believe. What kind of books were they looking for? What would interest this group of girls and hold their attention?
I began to pay attention to what the girls did and what interested them. Each one seemed to love sports of all kinds. Even when they were told to "rest" between games, they would play pitch and catch, throw a frisbee, play on the playground equipment, or throw a football. At one tournament, someone had a volleyball, and they had a blast with that!
I looked online and in bookstores for books about girls' sports, specifically softball. There were very few, and the ones I did find were for beginning readers or for teenagers. Matt Christopher has written many books about several different sports, but most are written for boys. Maybe there was a need for this genre of books.
Little stories and events began to swirl in my mind. Because I had majored in French and minored in English in college, I was fairly sure that I could write a grammatically correct book. My kids were (and are) involved in sports and silly things were (and are) always happening around our house. So, one night I sat down at the computer, and Voila! the series Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend was born.