HOW OSCAR INDIGO BROKE THE UNIVERSE (AND PUT IT BACK TOGETHER AGAIN)

Sweet-natured, warmhearted Oscar Indigo just wants to help his multiethnic baseball team win the championship.

Oscar is no star player; in fact, he’s a bench warmer who’s never had a hit. He comes to possess a very powerful watch, one that can stop time. But when he uses it to freeze time for 19 seconds, enabling him to engineer a fake home run and become a hero, that small amount of lost time has astounding repercussions. There are flying dinosaurs, a tsunami, and, most frightening, a second sun appearing in the sky. Oscar must accomplish several tasks in order to reverse the trouble he has caused and avert further disaster. There are some wonderfully eccentric characters who aid him, including his teammate Lourdes, who becomes his friend and ally; octogenarian Miss Eleanor Ethel Ellington, who may have struck out Babe Ruth; and Dr. Smiley, the keeper of the universe. The fast-paced, totally engrossing tale is told with great attention to detail, pausing for flashbacks that allow Oscar to learn about and even witness events long past. He also deals with issues of bullying and cheating, all without losing his essential goodness. Teague weaves the tale with gentle expressions of teamwork, friendship, honesty, and compassion. Fantasy feels real, and it all works beautifully. The narrative is written with a white default, ethnicity conveyed in naming conventions; Lourdes, for instance, is implied to be Filipina-American.

Suspend all disbelief and enjoy.