The Kid from Tomkinsville

Rating:
Summary: Good for bright youngster who want to read about baseball
Review: I first read this book when I was 7 years old in the 1970s. I still love it to this day. The characters jump off the page and take you back to the 1940s, a different time and world.

Rating:
Summary: Good for bright youngster who want to read about baseball
Review: I first read this book when I was 7 years old in the 1970s. I still love it to this day. The characters jump off the page and take you back to the 1940s, a different time and world.

Rating:
Summary: One of the great baseball books
Review: I read this book the first time back in the mid-80's in high school. I had a burgeoning love of baseball and fell deeply in love with Tunis' works. The point I got from this story is that there is always another door to get to your dream.

Rating:
Summary: Read This Book
Review: This book is about a boy named Roy Tucker who is a rookie in his first years of baseball. He is a pitcher and later becomes a right fielder after his pitching arm is hurt. I liked this book because it focused on Roy and you could really understand the kind of person he was. Roy almost gave up but he kept on trying.

Rating:
Summary: Unforgettable
Review: This is a terrific baseball book. You have to get through the early part where Roy Tucker is just off the farm and confused about what he's seeing, but then it picks up fast. Roy is a great character, as is Dave Leonard, and the baseball games have you on the edge of your seat.

Rating:
Summary: The Kid form Tomkinsville
Review: This noevl The Kid from Tomkinsville, is a very interesting book. The author John R. Tunis tells us about Roy Tucker, a young man from Conneticut trying out to play for the Dodgers.

Rating:
Summary: Great for young sports lovers
Review: When I was a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, I read all eight books in the J.R. Tunis series in his Dodgers series. Anyone who gets into the series MUST start with this one. Roy Tucker is an integral part in nearly all the books ("Young Razzle" being the exception), and "The Kid From Tomkinsville" introduces him along with the other characters. While some of the dialogue is of the "gee whiz" variety, the book and series are excellent. I'm so glad they were re-released, and I now have all of them. Now, I want to get a Dodgers replica jersey with the name "Tucker" above the number 34. Any kid between 9 and 90 who reads this book will know why.

Rating:
Summary: LEADING OFF A GREAT SERIES
Review: When I was a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, I read all eight books in the J.R. Tunis series in his Dodgers series. Anyone who gets into the series MUST start with this one. Roy Tucker is an integral part in nearly all the books ("Young Razzle" being the exception), and "The Kid From Tomkinsville" introduces him along with the other characters. While some of the dialogue is of the "gee whiz" variety, the book and series are excellent. I'm so glad they were re-released, and I now have all of them. Now, I want to get a Dodgers replica jersey with the name "Tucker" above the number 34. Any kid between 9 and 90 who reads this book will know why.

Rating:
Summary: One of the best sports books ever
Review: When I was in junior high, I was addicted to reading juvenile sports fiction. Shortly after beginning seventh grade, I went to the alphabetical beginning of the fiction section in the school library and began moving down the alphabet. As I went, I examined the books and read all that were sports related. In a little over two years, I had read every sports fiction book in the collection. Of all those books, the Kid From Tomkinsville was one of the most memorable.
While the background of the 1940's made the presentation difficult for someone in their early teens in the 1960’s, the descriptions of baseball more than made up for it. Roy Tucker is the title character and an excellent pitcher. However, immediately after one of his best games, he slips and cracks his pitching elbow. This finishes him as a pitcher and the main theme becomes his quest to come back as an outfielder.
He is initially very effective and believes success is assured. However, he soon begins to struggle and doubts creep in. The description of all of this is a combination of one of the best baseball stories as well as one of triumph as a combination of talent, hard work and persistence lead to his success. I still remember the scene where his manager comes to his room and tells him the problem is that he is playing for himself and not for his team.
John Tunis is one of the best writers of sports fiction that has ever lived. He makes baseball exciting, even when all the action is taking place off the field. While our society has moved on to a point quite different from the time period of the story, baseball is still a game where strategy, preparation and dedication can triumph over athletic ability. That has not changed, and the descriptions in this book will continue to keep the attention of baseball fans for decades to come.