Game 1: #1 in The Barnstormers: Tales of the Travelin'

Loren Long · Phil Bildner

Feb 2007 · Simon and Schuster · Narrated by Josh Hamilton

About this audiobook

LET THE GAMES BEGIN! #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LOREN LONG AND TEXAS BLUEBONNET AWARD WINNER PHIL BILDNER CREATE AN ACTION-PACKED PARABLE WHEREIN THREE SIBLINGS EMBARK ON AN ADVENTURE OF A LIFETIME AND DISCOVER THE STRENGTH IN FAMILY, THE POWER OF FAITH, AND THE TRUE MAGIC OF BASEBALL.

The year is 1899, and the Travelin' Nine are criss-crossing the good ol' U.S. of A., raising money to pay off the Payne family's big-league debt!

Griffith knows the most about his family's troubles. So it's his job to set things right, because that's what his father would have done.

Ruby has noticed a change in her big brother. Suddenly he's acting anxious and secretive, and she's determined to find out why.

Graham just wants to hit the field. Deep down inside, he knows that everything would be fine if his brother and sister would let him step up to the plate and swing for the fences.

And then there's the baseball that, when held simultaneously by Griffith, Ruby, and Graham, triggers the miraculous.

Loren Long is the #1 New York Times bestselling illustrator of Madonna's Mr. Peabody's Apples and Watty Piper's The Little Engine That Could. His first picture book, Angela Johnson's I Dream of Trains, won the SCBWI's Golden Kite Award for picture book illustration. His version of Walt Whitman's "When I Heard the Learn'd Astronomer" was a Golden Kite Honor Book. A former vintage ballist, he lives in West Chester, Ohio. You can visit Loren at www.lorenlong.com.

Phil Bildner is the author of the Texas Bluebonnet Award-winning Shoeless Joe & Black Betsy and its companion, The Shot Heard 'Round the World; Twenty-One Elephants, which was an Oppenheim Toy Portfolio Platinum Award winner; and The Greatest Game Ever Played. In addition, he is the author of the teen novels Playing the Field and Busted. A devoted softball player, he lives in Brooklyn, New York. You can visit Phil at www.philbildner.com.

Josh Hamilton's films include Kicking and Screaming, The House of Yes, Alive, Diggers, Online, and Outsourced. New York Stage work includes The Coast of Utopia, HurlyBurly, Proof, This is Our Youth, The Waverly Gallery, The Cider House Rules, As Bees in Honey Drown, and Suburbia.

About the author

Loren Long illustrated President Barack Obama’s Of Thee I Sing; the newest version of The Little Engine that Could by Watty Piper; Madonna’s second picture book, Mr. Peabody’s Apples; Nightsong by Ari Berk; Frank McCourt’s Angela and the Baby Jesus; Love by Matt de la Peña; and If I Was the Sunshine by Julie Fogliano. He also wrote and illustrated the Otis series and was part of the Design Garage for Jon Scieszka’s Trucktown series. Loren’s work has appeared in Time, Sports Illustrated, Forbes, The Wall Street Journal, and The Atlantic. He lives with his wife and two sons in Cincinnati, Ohio. Visit him at LorenLong.com.

Phil Bildner is a former New York City public school teacher who lives in Newburgh, New York. He spends much of his year visiting schools and libraries around the country and world. He is the author of over twenty books including the middle grade novel A Whole New Ballgame and picture books Marvelous Cornelius, The Soccer Fence, The Hallelujah Flight, and Twenty-One Elephants. Along with Loren Long, he is the coauthor of the New York Times bestselling Sluggers series. Visit him online at PhilBildner.com.

Josh Hamilton's films include Diggers, Kicking and Screaming, The House of Yes, Alive, Online, and Outsourced. New York Stage work includes The Coast of Utopia, HurlyBurly, Proof, This is Our Youth, The Waverly Gallery, The Cider House Rules, As Bees in Honey Drown, and Suburbia.