AT LAST IT’S summer. Miami is more than ready for two weeks of baseball camp. No homework. No annoying sister. Best of all, no Destinee Tate. But Miami can’t escape Destinee. Turns out his best friend, String, invited her to Camp Atwater, too. And she’s making trouble, as usual, trying to get girls on the boys’ all-star team! Gr. 2-4. In this follow-up to Miami Gets It Straight (2000), school has finally let out, and Miami is off to baseball camp. Miami's best friend, String, and Miami's rival, Destinee Tate, from the previous book, show up at camp, too, along with lively new characters, including Asher, a wildly talented, blind umpire, and Kenneth, a typical bully with a bad attitude. Camp is fun, but there's plenty of friction: Destinee campaigns for coed teams, and Miami teams up with Kenneth to fight the idea, straining his friendship with String. Wise counselor Lincoln reminds the boys about choices, and, in the end, Miami finds his conscience, voting for the coed team and speaking his mind to Kenneth. Humor and authentic dialogue balance the heavy messages in this well-paced chapter book, which raises questions about peer pressure and tolerance. Handsome illustrations by Michael Chesworth show the multicultural cast in action in this entry in the Road to Reading series. Gillian Engberg Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved The Miami series grew out of a real need that Pat McKissack saw in children s books: There weren t many books about middle-class African American kids. We are professional people, Pat said about herself and her husband, Fred, in The Dallas Morning News . Our kids never knew a hungry day. They lived a normal, middle-class life on a street that was very diverse. It s not that the other kind of stories aren t important. But I got tired of African American children showing up in literature a day late and a dollar short. These three books show Miami Jackson s third-going-on-fourth-grade life getting through the last few days of school before summer vacation, finding his place in summer baseball camp, and dealing with a no-nonsense new teacher with humor and irrepressible attitude. Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack have written tons of wonderful books for children, such as several Coretta Scott King Award winning books, including Black Hands, White Sails; and Sojourner Truth: Ain t I a Woman? Pat has also been honored with the Virginia Hamilton Award. The authors live in St. Louis, MO. The Miami series grew out of a real need that Pat McKissack saw in children’s books: There weren’t many books about middle-class African American kids. “We are professional people,” Pat said about herself and her husband, Fred, in The Dallas Morning News . “Our kids never knew a hungry day. They lived a normal, middle-class life on a street that was very diverse. It’s not that the other kind of stories aren’t important. But I got tired of African American children showing up in literature a day late and a dollar short.” These three books show Miami Jackson’s third-going-on-fourth-grade life—getting through the last few days of school before summer vacation, finding his place in summer baseball camp, and dealing with a no-nonsense new teacher—with humor and irrepressible attitude. Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack have written tons of wonderful books for children, such as several Coretta Scott King Award–winning books, including Black Hands, White Sails; and Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman? Pat has also been honored with the Virginia Hamilton Award. The authors live in St. Louis, MO. Patricia McKissack and Fredrick McKissack have written tons of wonderful books for children, such as several Coretta Scott King Award–winning books, including Black Hands, White Sails; and Sojourner Truth: Ain’t I a Woman? Pat has also been honored with the Virginia Hamilton Award. The authors live in St. Louis, MO.