James+P

"Shakespeare Bats Cleanup" by Ron Koertge is about a boy named Kevin who gets sick and decides to write a bunch of poems. Kevin likes to play baseball, and he is good at it. At first he is sad and bored because he is sick in bed and can't do anything but write. About halfway through the book Kevin starts feeling better and is able to play baseball again. Then he gets sad because he misses writing so he keeps writing. Kevin takes his father's poetry book because his father is a writer. As he writes in the book he learns about life. Kevin writes about his relationship with his dad. He also writes about girls, friends and his mother who died recently. By the end of the book Kevin likes writing. He thanks poetry for giving him a chance to write about his mother.

This is a poem book. It is written like a journal. Some of the poems are funny, some are boring, some are serious, and some are sad. I thought the poem "Confession" was funny because it is true. It's about one of his ex-girlfriends. I didn't like any of the other poems. I couldn't relate to the character or the story because I have never gotten sick during soccer season and no one in my family has passed away. I thought it was boring that Kevin wrote about girls so much. There was nothing very interesting to me in the story. There was no action. I would have liked it better if the character traveled to a make-believe place.

I enjoy books that are written in chapters instead of poems. I don't understand free verse because poetry is supposed to rhyme. Free verse is more like someone just talking. I didn't like this book, but I would recommend it to someone who likes baseball and girls. The author Ron Koertge has written many poem books and novels for young adults.