Lucky: Maris, Mantle, and My Best Summer Ever

(Simon & Schuster Children’s Publishing) In this novel for middle-grade readers, Louis May is a lonely outcast — he does not get along with his new stepbrother, his mother lives in the East Village, and he doesn’t fit it an his new school. Louis, does, however, have baseball, and he loves the game, and the Yankees, more than anything. After a fortuitous event, Louis is asked to be a batboy for the team during the summer of 1961—the summer of Maris and Mantle’s pursuit of Ruth’s home-run record — giving him an up-close view of the men, their lessons, and the chase, all while still dealing with his less-than-perfect home life. Tooke is a screenwriter and novelist.