Who Is Felix the Great?

Baseball: Tracking down father’s favorite player

• Books for the Teen Age (New York Public Library)

Tim Julian has been feeling pretty empty ever since his father died. Especially now that his mother is seeing a new boyfriend. So when he has to write a report for his eleventh grade English class on a once famous person, Tim suddenly remembers Felix the Great, the legendary Chicago Cubs shortstop who had been his father’s hero.

But what ever happened to Felix the Great, who has something in his past that no one wants to talk about? What Tim learns surprises him. Felix Johnson isn’t exactly the hero he has expected.

Then Tim gets a chance to drive Felix from Los Angeles to the Cubs’ Old Timers’ Game in Chicago. Chicago was Tim’s father’s hometown, so maybe, Tim thinks, he can find something of him by going back there. But what he really has to find in Chicago is himself.

This is a sensitive and readable story about a teenager and an old timer who try to relive the heroic past when they go back to the old ball game.