Rating: Needs Parent Supervision

Learning about various ballparks makes me want to go visit each of them! In The Rookie Blue Jay, we learn about the hotel in the Blue Jay’s ball park, and the kids also visit some nearby tourist treasures such as the Hockey Hall of Fame or Niagara Falls. Despite these delightful tidbits, this mystery wasn’t my favorite because of these hesitations:

  • A couple references to the ghost light legend (a phantom light that people sometimes follow into trouble or into their deaths.
  • Sneaking out of a hotel room to investigate while the supervising parent sleeps.

To be fair, the ghost light ends up being totally explainable in the end (not a ghost at all), but I’m just not excited about books that play into ghosts, etc. My 7, 5, and 2-year old kids get obsessed/spooked, and I’m just kind of over it. That said, this one is otherwise pretty tame and has some good messages about following your dreams (and overcoming parental pressure to follow their dreams).

My favorite Ballpark Mystery is Book 3: The LA Dodger.