Inside the Park by Andrea Williams

Inside the Park

Andrea Williams

HarperCollins · Print & ebook · February 4, 2025

A Middle Grade pick for readers exploring Inside the Park.

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Who it’s for
For baseball fans, a stadium after dark turns wish fulfillment into a lively test of nerve.
Themes
Baseball fandom, Courage under pressure, Wish fulfillment
Pacing
Fast

About this book

From Andrea Williams, the bestselling author of We Are Family with LeBron James, comes Inside the Park, the story of a young baseball fan’s misadventures after getting locked inside a pro baseball stadium on the eve of the biggest game of the season. In this all-new, hilarious, action-packed middle grade tale, Timothy “Pumpsie” Strickland, a baseball-loving twelve-year-old, is about to step up to the plate for the biggest swing of his life. Pumpsie needs a win.

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Or to be more precise, he needs the Nashville Wildcats to win. Pumpsie’s been waiting his entire life—twelve whole years!—for his favorite team to make it to the playoffs. And this year—finally!—they’re just one win away. But when Pumpsie accidentally gets trapped in Lookout Field the night before the last game of the season, with only a lost dog named Campy for company, he may have accidentally stumbled into the best night of his life. For a baseball fan like Pumpsie, using the pro batting cages, running the bases, playing with the public address system, eating all the concession-stand junk food he can find is a dream come true . . . until he realizes he’s not alone in the stadium. Foul plots are brewing beneath Lookout Field, and now it’s on Pumpsie to swallow his fears, gum up his courage, and swing for the fences if he wants to save the Wildcats’ postseason chances. Inside the Park is a fun-filled, action-packed slice of wish fulfillment that’s perfect for fans of Mike Lupica and Tim Green or any kid who’s ever closed their eyes and imagined stepping up to the plate with the game tied and the season on the line.

Stadium After Hours

For baseball fans, a stadium after dark turns wish fulfillment into a lively test of nerve.

Come here for

  • Pro baseball, big-game stakes, and a young fan’s comic misadventures
  • The delicious fantasy of having the ballpark to yourself

Expect

  • A warm, action-packed middle grade adventure
  • A lost dog, stadium hijinks, and trouble brewing beneath the field

Where it sits

Baseball & Softball100%
Mysteries & Detective Stories63%
Action & Adventure35%

Percentages are BookFrontier’s reading of the book.

Publisher categories

  • Action & Adventure
  • Dog Stories
  • Pet Stories
  • Boys & Men
Show all 8 publisher categories
  • Funny Stories
  • Mysteries & Detective Stories
  • Baseball & Softball
  • Friendship
Authors
Andrea Williams
Publisher
HarperCollins
Published
February 4, 2025
Format
Print & ebook
Theme
Baseball fandom · Courage under pressure · Wish fulfillment
Reading lane
Action & Adventure