Batter up! Baseball action and exciting whodunits star in this chapter book series! Next up is Atlanta! The A-team takes A-Town! Mike and Kate are in Atlanta, where Hammerin' Hank hit his legendary 715th home run. But Hank's historic bat and ball, which he used to break Babe Ruth's record, have been stolen! Good thing Mike and Kate are sleuthing pros. Can the cousins track down Hank Aaron's missing treasure . . . before it's gone forever? Ballpark Mysteries are the all-star matchup of fun sleuthing and baseball action, perfect for readers of Ron Roy's A to Z Mysteries and Matt Christopher's sports books, and younger siblings of Mike Lupica fans. Each Ballpark Mystery also features Dugout Notes with more amazing baseball facts. Gr 3-4-Junior sleuths and baseball fans Mike and Kate return in the 18th installment in the series. The cousins attend a Braves home game with Kate's sports reporter Mom when they stumble onto a crime: Hank Aaron's bat and ball from his record-setting 715th home run are missing! There are plenty of suspects and false leads to keep readers engaged in this solvable case, along with a wealth of baseball facts. Meyers's illustrations add depth, but the text carries the narrative. Kelly is able to introduce challenging vocabulary (­evidence, editions) thanks to the novel's reader-friendly design featuring short sentences and wide margins. "Dugout Notes" back matter includes fun facts about the city of Atlanta, the Braves, and the legendary Hank Aaron. VERDICT Another winning entry in a solid, sporty transitional reader series. α(c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted. DAVID A. KELLY has written a picture book and chapter books for young readers including the MVP series, as well as for many newspapers and magazines. He lives near Fenway Park in Newton, Massachusetts. You can learn more at davidakellybooks.com or on twitter at @davidakelly or facebook.com/ballparkmysteries. MARK MEYERS grew up in Utah and studied art at the Academy of Art University in San Francisco.