Honus and Me by Dan Gutman

Interest Level: grades 3-5

Grade Level Equivalent: 3.5

Guided Reading Level: R

The cool thing is, a lot of the stuff in this book actually happened! The T-206 Honus Wagner baseball card is an actual, real baseball card that pictures the Pittsburgh Pirates’ Short Stop, Honus Wagner. Around 1909, the American Tobacco Company would put baseball cards inside their cigarette packs. They were really small compared to today’s baseball cards. They were only a little over one inch wide and about 2 ½ inches tall. (Show the picture of the life-size reproduction of the T-206 Honus Wagner card on p. 138 and the color photo with cigarette packaging).

Honus Wagner did not want kids buying cigarettes to get his baseball card; he didn’t like smoking and he thought the cards should be free. So, Honus had the cigarette company stop production of the cards and only about 60-200 cards were ever given out to the public. Because Honus Wagner is considered one of the best baseball players of all time, these cards are now extremely valuable and the T-206 Honus Wagner card is most expensive baseball card in history.

Have any of you ever heard of the hockey player Wayne Gretzky? Well, he made this baseball card pretty famous in 1991 when he bought this little ole card for a whopping $450,000! Can you imagine?! In Honus and Me, they even show a real newspaper article about the Gretzky sale. (show the Gretzky article on p. 30) Since then, the card has been sold a few more times. Does anyone want to guess at how much this card is worth today? Over 3 million dollars!

Imagine finding this card? Would you give it back? Would you keep it? Well, that is exactly the dilemma that Joe Stoshack has to face in the historical fiction book, Honus and Me by Dan Gutman. Joe is going through a rough time. His parents are getting a divorce and he and his mom are in need of money. To make a few extra bucks, he agrees to help his elderly neighbor, Miss Young, clean out and throw away all her junk in the attic. While he was cleaning, he found an original T-206 Honus Wagner card. He knew immediately what he had found and he knew it could be sold for a lot of money, which would solve a lot of his problems. Joe decides to keep it and not tell anyone. When he gets home, he takes out the card, holds it in his fingers, and starts to get this weird tingling sensation. Before he knows it, Honus Wagner is standing in his room! This all sounds like Joe is having the luck of his life until someone, not so friendly finds out that he has the T-206 Honus Wagner card and will do anything to get it. Read Honus and Me to find out more about Honus Wagner, what Joe will decide to do with the card, and if he will even be able to keep it! In Honus and Me, not only do you learn lots of real baseball facts and see real baseball pictures, you are also taken through a fast pace adventure that will make it hard for you to put the book down! If you enjoy this book, you should also check out the others in the series by Dan Gutman like Jackie and Me, Babe and Me, and Shoeless Joe and Me. They are equally as informative and fun!

Submitted by Jackie Snyder