But the ring was there, and they really did live in a small two-bedroom apartment on Amsterdam not too far from the firehouse and not too far from Mr. Starr so that they could see him once a week. It was always for dinner, and he and Ryder’s dad could go at it about politics and religion and the reasons for the general decline in the world.
“Hey!” Mr. Starr’s shout surprised Ryder.
Ryder hadn’t seen him during the game and he spun around and said so. Ashleigh Love smiled and said hello, her hands firmly on the back of Mr. Starr’s chair.
“That’s because I just got here, you knucklehead. More books and less baseball might make you a little sharper between the ears.” Mr. Starr didn’t look any better than he had a year ago, but he didn’t look any worse, and the tone of his voice wasn’t quite as sour, despite his determination to be a grouch. “Speaking of books, I’ve got something for you. I finished it this morning. Well, almost finished it. I still have a couple pages at the end, but I thought you’d like to see it before anyone else. Ashleigh?”
“Oh!” Ashleigh Love dug into the pouch in the back of the chair and removed a thick stack of papers held together by a sturdy metal clip.
Ryder took the manuscript. He read the title page, grinned at Mr. Starr, then at his parents. His mother nodded at the bleachers.
Ryder sat down and flipped Mr. Starr’s book open to page one.
Chapter 1
Ryder smashed a ball over the fence and tried not to smile.
He jogged the bases while his teammates whistled, catcalled, or clapped, depending on the kind of person they were and which side they’d bet on. His team’s best pitcher, Ben Salisbury, said he’d strike Ryder out with four pitches. Ryder knocked it out on the second. Only the kids who went to Dalton School with Salisbury bet on him, and they did it out of loyalty. Everyone knew Ryder had the best Little League batting average in Manhattan. . . .
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About the Author
Photo by Laure Lillie
TIM GREEN played Little League baseball for many years before specializing in football. After graduating as covaledictorian from Syracuse University, he was a first-round draft pick and played as a star defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons for eight years. He earned his law degree with honors and has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and an NFL commentator for NPR.
When his sons began to play baseball, Tim drew on his early love of the game to coach their teams. His exciting books for young readers include the New York Times bestselling Unstoppable, Baseball Great, Rivals, and Best of the Best. He has also written the novels Football Genius, Football Champ, and The Big Time, starring Troy White, and Football Hero, starring Ty Lewis. Troy and Ty meet in Tim’s exciting Football Genius novel Deep Zone.
Tim Green lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. You can visit him online at www.timgreenbooks.com.
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Credits
Cover design by Kate Engbring
Copyright
LOST BOY. Copyright © 2015 by Tim Green. All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the nonexclusive, nontransferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, downloaded, decompiled, reverse-engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
www.harpercollinschildrens.com
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Green, Tim, date
Lost boy / by Tim Green. — First edition.
pages cm
Summary: After a near-fatal car accident, twelve-year-old Ryder’s mother needs an operation they cannot afford, and while a new friend tries to raise funds, Ryder travels with a grouchy, disabled neighbor from Yankee Stadium to Turner Field, seeking the Major League Baseball player who might be Ryder’s father.
ISBN 978-0-06-231708-7 (hardback)
EPub Edition Edition © February 2015 ISBN 9780062317100
[1. Mothers and sons—Fiction. 2. Fathers and sons—Fiction. 3. Identity—Fiction. 4. People with disabilities—Fiction. 5. Fund-raising—Fiction. 6. Baseball—Fiction. 7. Traffic accidents—Fiction.] I. Title.
PZ7.G826357Los 2015
2014022682
[Fic]—dc23
CIP
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15 16 17 18 19 CG/RRDH 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
FIRST EDITION
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