After Getting 'Plunked' On The Head, A Little Leaguer Makes A Comeback
In the 12 years that Michael Northrop spent working at Sports Illustrated Kids, he met excellent athletes who had a lot more going on in their lives than just sports.
"They were young athletes, but they were also kids, so I didn't want to forget about that," he tells NPR's Michele Norris.
So he wrote a book called Plunked, about a 12-year-old baseball player named Jack Mogens — and his life both on and off the field. The story begins at the outset of Jack's last year of Little League. During the first game of the season, Jack gets hit in the head with a fastball. Northrop says it's a comeback story, but not in the traditional sports sense.
"He loves baseball," Northrop says. "His world is sort of built around it — and that relationship is shaken and he needs to come to terms with that and try and sort of step back up to the plate."