Rajani LaRocca - Much Ado About Baseball

This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

New York, NY

Text copyright 2021 by Rajani LaRocca

Illustrations copyright 2021 by Little Bee Books

Illustrations by Chloe Dijon and Ludovic Sall

All rights reserved, including the right of reproduction in whole or in part in any form.

Interior designed by Natalie Padberg Bartoo

Yellow Jacket and associated colophon are trademarks of Little Bee Books.

Manufactured in China RRD 0221

First Edition

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication

Data is available upon request.

ISBN 978-1-4998-1101-8

For information about special discounts on bulk purchases, please contact Little Bee Books at .

For everyone whos ever wondered if they belong on the team

P RAISE FOR M IDSUMMERS M AYHEM

A delectable treat for food and literary connoisseurs alike.

Kirkus Reviews , STARRED REVIEW

What a wonderful, intriguing, and magical book. And wow, did it ever get my taste buds going! Each time I picked it up, I felt the urge to head to my kitchen.... What I loved most was the smartness of it. It never once doubted its young readers.

Kathi Appelt, Newbery Honor- and National Book
Award-nominated author

Midsummers Mayhem is an enchantment of a novel bursting with magic, mystery, and mouthwatering baked goods. Readers who have their own baking-show dreams will be cheering for Mimi until the very last page.

Kate Messner, award-winning author of Breakout ,
The Seventh Wish , and All the Answers

Midsummers Mayhem is a delightful confection of a family story full of heart, magic, and a baking championship with mysteriously high stakes! LaRocca takes an almost-throwaway reference in Shakespeares A Midsummer Nights Dream and reclaims it by having a multiracial Indian-American family at the center of her tale. Mimis pluck, gentle courage, and knack for combining flavors will capture readers hearts, imaginations, and undoubtedly, taste buds!

Sayantani DasGupta, author of the New York Times -bestselling
Kiranmala and the Kingdom Beyond series

Taking its inspiration from one of Shakespeares most popular comedies, Midsummers Mayhem is a sweet and fun story about mistaken identity, bumpy romance, and the everyday magic of baking.

Barbara Dee, author of Star-Crossed and Halfway Normal

Laugh-out-loud funny one moment and mouthwateringly delicious the next, Midsummers Mayhem is an utter pleasure to consume from the very first page! LaRoccas debut novel entices and bewitchesI dare you not to fall under its spell.

Tara Dairman, author of The Great Hibernation and the
award-winning All Four Stars series

Absolutely scrumptious! I fell in love with this book and devoured it in one day. LaRocca crafts a spell of tricky fairies, lovable mortals, and heartfelt magic. Mimi is determined, resourceful, and unfailingly kind. Perfect for aspiring bakers, younger siblings, or anyone with a passion.

Anna Meriano, author of the Love Sugar Magic series

Rajani LaRocca has concocted a delectable story about family, friendship, baking, and magic that readers are sure to devour! Relatable, lovable Mimi is easy to root for, and LaRocca brings the whole cast of characters to life with her deft descriptions and realistic dialogue. Readers will delight in Midsummers Mayhem !

Erin Dionne, author of Lights, Camera, Disaster

An absolute delightLaRoccas delectable debut is whimsical, frothy, and so much fun. An inventive take on a classic comedy, Midsummers Mayhem is a sweetly told tale of family, friendship, and following your passion. This is a book for the dreamers and doers alike; effervescent, full of heart, and ultimately joyful.

Olugbemisola Rhuday-Perkovich, author of
Two Naomis and 8th Grade Superzero

This riff on A Midsummer Nights Dream is heartfelt and ridiculously fun. Mimi, sweet as sugar with a heart of gold, creates as many problems as she solves, but readers will be cheering for her and her family the whole way.

Booklist

An entertaining and epicurean retelling of A Midsummer Nights Dream ... Strikes a perfect balance between the pleasant and the melancholy, as sweet and savory as one of Mimis confections.

Shelf Awareness

T ABLE OF C ONTENTS

C HAPTER O NE

T RISH

B ASEBALL I S M AGIC

Baseball is magic. Time stops between the instant the ball is released and when it makes it over the plate, between the whack of the bat and when the ball finally touches earth again. And this summer, I was holding on to that magic for dear life.

The threads tying me to everything important had snapped, and I was a balloon, floating, flying away on the breeze with nothing to tether me. I was in a new town surrounded by new kids, yanked away from everyone who knew and accepted me.

My brother Sanjay and I were playing catch on a stifling June afternoon in the backyard of our new home. Youll never be the strongest, so you need to play the smartest, he said as he threw me a scorcher. Sanjays in high school, and he throws hard, but I got used to hand-stinging catches a long time ago. Id already run my two miles and finished my push-ups and sit-ups for the day. Physically, I was ready.

What if no one wants me on the team? I asked, tossing it back. Id just left a town where the boys were used to seeing me on a baseball field, but I didnt know what to expect here.

Sanjay caught the ball and laughed. Youre a great teammate, not to mention an amazing ballplayer, he said. You hit, you run, you deserve a Gold Glove for fielding, and you already throw four-seam and two-seam fastballs. If you can make that circle changeup motion look exactly like your fastball, youll be a hero. He tossed the ball high in the air, and I moved a few steps to get under it. Sanjay was my hero. And he believed in me, no matter what.

The ball smacked into my glove. Im just so...

He waited for me to finish, but I didnt want to say the word out loud. Lost .

I supposed I could always quit. That might make Mom happy, at least.

Trish! Dad called from the garage. We need to leave now if you want to be early. I tossed the ball back to Sanjay and waved goodbye.

Ready to meet your new team? Dad smiled and squeezed my shoulder, but that didnt stop my pulse from pounding in my throat.

Yeah. I took a deep breath. I had to be the best. Thats the only way Id ever be accepted. So thats what I was going to do this summer.

Mom was at work at the hospital, of course. When shed landed the chief of cardiology job at Boston General Hospital, it was too good to pass up. Dad could run his graphic design business from anywhere. So we uprooted ourselves from our little town in New Hampshire and moved to Comity, Massachusetts. While Sanjay and I werent thrilled about changing schools, we didnt have a choice. I knew my brother would be fine. He was so smart, and cute, and hilarious. I was already weird as a girl baseball player and a math kidwell, I used to be a math kidand now I had to make friends with a team full of strangers.