The Hardy Boys Secret Files #2 The Missing Mitt

Rating: Not for Me

Reading Level: Mid-Elementary

The brothers team up to investigate a case of stolen mitt at a baseball game.

Possible Concerns:

• Superstition. It is one boy’s “lucky mitt.” Having belonged to a star pro player, the kids all touch it before the game.
• Poor Sportsmanship. The boy whose mitt is lost essentially throws a temper tantrum and won’t play the game without his lucky mitt. The coach scolds him but he still refuses. I think a better model would be to play with a different mitt until the old one is found.

Things I liked

• Good adult leader. The coach, who happens to be a woman, draws strong boundaries. Kids cannot be late to practice or a game, and when she instructs them to stop accusing opponents of cheating, she holds firmly to it.

Ultimately, I felt the bad outweighed the good on this one.