Ballpark Mysteries Holiday Gifts 2023

Holidays and birthdays are great times to connect young readers with new books or their favorite authors. That’s why author David A. Kelly is now offering a range of special holiday gifts for readers.

  • Signed books. Purchase personalized and signed books by David A. Kelly.
  • New audio books. Great for holiday car rides! Purchase the new audio books for The Two-Minute Warning, The Black Cat Change-Up, and Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse (a non-fiction chapter book). And for football fans, The Football Fumble is now available!
  • Personal video “shout out.” David A. Kelly will record a short video “shout out” to fans or readers for a holiday gift, birthday gift, or any other occasion. $25
  • Personal virtual visit/writing workshop. Meet virtually (via Zoom, Google Meet, etc.) one-on-one with Ballpark Mysteries author David A. Kelly. Visits are up to 30 minutes long. David A. Kelly can discuss how he writes the Ballpark Mysteries books, answer questions, or talk about writing and publishing. He’s also happy to provide guidance, feedback, or mystery writing tips for young writers. $50
  • Gift school visit. Purchase a prepaid virtual school author visit with David A. Kelly for your favorite teacher or school! Visit date and time can be coordinated afterwards at mutually convenient times and dates. $100 holiday rate
  • Name a character. Ever wanted to be in a book? You can! Contact David A. Kelly for information on how you might become a character in one of his upcoming Ballpark Mysteries. Football Mysteries, or Mike and Kate Mysteries books! Priceless (but starts at $250, depending on the character)
  • David A. Kelly Insiders Club. Want to go behind the scenes of the Ballpark Mysteries? Contact David A. Kelly for information on his upcoming Insiders Club. Includes a monthly short newsletter, quarterly virtual Q&A sessions where subscribers interact with David A. Kelly, and occasional work-in-progress chapters (that will probably change!). Subscribers also get pre-release copies of new books (at least one per year) before books are available to the general public.

Making New Discoveries from the Apollo Missions

Sometimes there’s more to the story than we realize at first. What if kids could learn about events like the Apollo Moon missions that happened long ago, but then find something new in them? That idea was the launching point for my latest book, Tee Time on the Moon: How Astronaut Alan Shepard Played Lunar Golf.

Read more about turning history into discovery in my latest article for the Nerdy Book Club.

New for 2023–The Black Cat Change-Up

I’m pleased to announce the release of The Black Cat Change-Up, the latest Ballpark Mysteries book.

The Black Cat Change-Up is the 19th team book in the Ballpark Mysteries series and finds Mike and Kate trying to stop the ghost of a black cat from a famous 1969 game from haunting an important Mets/Cubs ball game! Will they solve the spooky situation before it brings down the Mets?

The Black Cat Change-Up is ideal for girls and boys in elementary school who love mystery, adventure, real-life situations, or sports. Like my other Ballpark Mysteries books, it includes some fun facts in the Dugout Notes section at the back of the book (did you know that the Mets stadium is the only one without yellow foul poles? Instead, the Mets have orange foul-poles!).

You can pick up The Black Cat Change-Up at local bookstores (ISBN 978-1959378006) or online at Amazon. Order your copy of The Black Cat Change-Up today.

The book is available in paperback, hardcover, ebook, (and coming soon) audio book forms.

Best Chapter Book Series

My Ballpark Mysteries books a great for elementary readers looking for mystery and adventure (or baseball!), but what do you do when you’ve finished them all? Don’t worry–here’s are five great chapter book series that are perfect for young readers who love mystery and adventure!

And if those books don’t keep your reader busy, I can also recommend this great list of graphic novels from Shepard.com.

The Atlanta Alibi

It’s here! The latest Ballpark Mysteries book is now available! This time, we’ll be taking a trip down south to Atlanta. That’s right, the latest Ballpark Mysteries book will be The Atlanta Alibi. Mike and Kate visit the Atlanta Braves’ ballpark and discover that someone’s taken Hank Aaron’s famous bat and ball that he used to hit record-breaking home run 715! Order it now from your favorite bookstore to make sure you can catch all the baseball action! Dig deeper and download the free activity guide for The Atlanta Alibi for hours of fun.

The Atlanta Alibi

Catch a Ballpark Mysteries Triple Play

The Triple Play Twins, the newest book in the Ballpark Mysteries series is now on sale!

Ballpark Mysteries #17 – The Triple Play Twins

Mike and Kate travel to Minneapolis to meet the Minnesota Twins’ star players: Marco and Pedro, a dynamic twin duo known for their signature triple plays. But after a water balloon attack on the players and a suspect on the run, questions start to pile up. Is someone trying to mess with Marco and Pedro’s chances of making the playoffs? As Mike and Kate investigate, they meet Polly and Molly, twin Minnesota locals who lend a helping hand–or two. With new friends by their side, can Mike and Kate solve this mystery?

Teachers, librarians, and parents can dive in deeper by downloading my free learning guide to The Triple Play Twins, with lots of fun and educational activities based on the book.