Fielding his social life is a bigger challenge for Kevin than hitting a fastball in Ron Koertge's funny, insightful sequel to Shakespeare Bats Cleanup.

Fourteen-year-old Kevin Boland has a passion for playing baseball, a knack for writing poetry - and a cute girlfriend named Mira who's not much interested in either. But then, Kevin doesn't exactly share Mira's newfound fervor for all things green. So when Kevin signs up for open mike night at Bungalow Books and meets Amy, a girl who knows a sonnet from a sestina and can match his emails verse for verse, things start to get sticky. Should he stay with Mira? Or risk spoiling his friendship with Amy by asking her out? Ron Koertge, master of snappy dialogue and a deft poet, offers a fast-paced, sympathetic story that interweaves two narrative voices with humor and warmth.