Holding at ThirdBy Linda Zinnen Reading Level: Young Adult When Matt’s older brother Tom has one last-chance treatment for cancer, Matt opts to changeschools to stay with their mother near the hospital. This means leaving his middle school’s champion baseball team and playing with the third-rated Upper West Bexley team.Although their mother is spending most of her time with Tom, Matt can't deal with taking the bus to the hospital. He is haunted by memories related to Tom’s illness and goes into a deep batting slump before the Amesville vs. Upper West game.The game is the turning point where Matt can deal with anger and denial. Tom is later released from the hospital with about a 50-50 chance of living.Holding at third is Matt’s baseball metaphor for the delicate balance at this moment in Tom’s life.Linda Zinner writes honestly about cancer and the emotional impact it has on family members. This is a story of responsibility and reality, told with humor and a lot of good baseball.The setting is middle school but Holding atThird will be a good read for high school students as well.