Renowned children’s author David A. Kelly, who grew up in New Hartford and graduated from New Hartford Senior High School, has published 28 titles in his Chapter Book series, The Ballpark Mysteries, with his latest due to drop later this year or early 2027.
Just back home after visiting the Mohawk Valley for a book-signing event at the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown – Kelly is resting his wrist after ‘pitching’ his autograph onto over 400 Ballpark Mysteries chapter books, visiting family in Utica, then having a few Moo Half Moons from Hemstrought’s before getting back to the game of putting words on the page.
Mohawk Valley sports fiction author’s ‘pre-game’ story
Kelly hails from the family who for years helmed the small family business, Jay-K Lumber on Seneca Turnpike in New Hartford (now Curtis Lumber).
“My grandfather, Joe Kelly, started it,” recalled Kelly proudly, who shared that his dad, Kevin then took over the business with his brothers, Chris and Steve. “I spent many summers working there when I was younger.”
Kelly reflected on his coming of age in Central New York.
“I think Central New York is such a great place to grow up,” effused Kelly about his childhood in New Hartford. “I just loved New Hartford Senior High School. It’s a great launching pad for figuring out what you might want to do?”
The children’s author shared with this Utica Observer-Dispatch he delivered the Observer-Dispatch as a kid.
He went away to college – but not far away – the proud Central New York native is also an alumnus of Syracuse University, where he majored in computer science.
“I did take some poetry courses in college – so did a little bit of poetry writing,” Kelly conceded, “But I didn’t expect to be a writer. I was a reader, but I always struggled with writing.”
He met his wife, Alice, in college, where she was studying journalism, and may have benefitted from some ‘S.I. Newhouse School’ osmosis.
As Kelly imagined a technology career, he and Alice settled in Boston, where his work led him to the marketing side, including technical writing, and articles and white papers for tech publications.
“I became a better writer,” recalls Kelly of the experience, “and I started to enjoy doing it.”
Taking a swing at children’s books
Kelly translated his early journalism into a side hustle as a travel writer, publishing pieces in magazines and newspapers as distinguished as The Boston Globe and The New York Times.
With Kelly’s “day job” still firmly rooted in tech, it was his two sons, Steven and Scott, who inspired him to “take a swing” at penning children’s chapter books.
Believe it or not, Kelly himself was never a baseball fan. But Steven and Scott were, and both played Little League as kids. Kelly became a fan of America’s pastime with and because of his sons.
“They liked playing baseball and reading mysteries,” Kelly recalled of his sons’ – now 29 and 30 years old respectively – and their own childhood, “and it got me thinking?”
New Hartford author’s ‘first pitch’ at now best-selling kids’ book series
Baseball and mysteries?
As Kelly began fashioning a ‘game plan’ around writing books that his sons would enjoy reading, he learned that there really was not a series of baseball mysteries for children. So, he ‘stepped up to the plate’ put pen to page and hoped to ‘get a hit’ out of it.
He had the idea to set the series in MLB ballparks.
“There’s so much history tied to these teams and their stadiums,” Kelly shared.
To lead his young readers to the 30 MLB baseball stadiums throughout the U.S. and Canada, Kelly conjured his two main characters, Mike and Kate, who were growing up in Cooperstown, immersed in baseball history, and often traveled with Kate’s mother – a sportswriter – when she covered baseball games.
Kelly recalls ‘pitching’ the first book in the series he imagined – set in Boston’s Fenway Park – to Random House.
“The book was really terrible,” Kelly confessed.
But the idea was not and made a fan out of a Random House editor who worked closely with Kelly to coach it into a ‘perfect game.’
The novice children’s author listened, learned, and revised till the publisher finally changed his position and green-lit a non-fiction kid-lit hit, Babe Ruth and the Baseball Curse, which became Kelly’s first title in print, published in 2009 by Random House Books for Young Readers as part of their Totally True Adventures series.
When at first he didn’t succeed, he tried yet again to revise the first of the Ballpark Mysteries series, that ‘game’ that neither he nor Random House had called yet. In the wake of the reception for the “Babe Ruth” title, Random House dropped “Ballpark Mysteries #1: The Fenway Foul-Up,” in 2009.
Kelly ‘followed up’ with “Ballpark Mysteries #2: The Pinstripe Ghost” – spinning a mystery in Yankee Stadium – in 2011.
“The second book was a Yankees book,” said Kelly, “because if you have Red Sox, you have to have Yankees!”
Seventeen years later, Kelly has penned and published 28 titles in the “Ballpark Mystery Series” in 21 of the 30 MLB ballparks.
Kelly kicks off new kids’ mystery series set in NFL stadiums
Kelly has since translated his ‘winning game plan’ from the ‘first pitch’ to the ‘kick-off’ with a new children’s chapter book series.
Kelly’s Football Mystery Series has already led his beloved child sleuths, Kate and Mike, to Texas Stadium in Irving, home to the Dallas Cowboys, in #1, Two-Minute Warning, followed by a trip to Patriot Place and Gillette Stadium in Foxboro, where the Patriots play for The Big Bling Blitz. ‘3rd down’ is #3, Tush Push Trouble, putting Kate and Mike to “The Linc” in Philadelphia to solve an enigma for the Eagles.
“Chapter books are a little bit forgotten in the publishing industry,” offered Kelly, “but, for that age range, series are really important.”
Kelly points out that his target readers are just learning to read.
“So they need characters and places (like Mike and Kate from Cooperstown) that they’re familiar with but follow them through different stories so they can really sharpen their reading skills. And do more reading.”
What the writer loves about writing
Research.
Kelly, whose first title was non-fiction, shared a love for the research that makes the mystery book series so authentic to his young readers.
He had to learn how to structure a mystery. He had to learn that his characters needed to talk less and DO more. But he had a knack for uncovering stranger-than-fiction facts that added history to his fiction.
“I really love that about the job,” said Kelly. “I get to learn interesting things and share those with young readers and get them excited about baseball and about reading.”
Kelly quipped that, “luckily,” his readers are too young to know that much yet about baseball, so he doesn’t need to know that much about it either to write the baseball books.
What he finds truly rewarding is hearing the stories of how his books have inspired his young fans.
“Readers have gone on vacation to do what my characters do,” said Kelly.
He’s reveled in their own tales of how his stories have inspired them, some searching out the “real” places in the kiddie fiction tomes to visit themselves, such as Niagara Falls or the Freedom Trail.
“Kids often read them before they visit the stadiums,” said Kelly, who shared the ‘game story’ of a little girl named Fiona, who he dubbed a “superfan” of the “Ballpark Mysteries,” who took his book set at Target Field in Minneapolis to her first Minnesota Twins game and asked the mascot T.C. Bear to sign it.
Concluded Kelly, “It is really fun to see how readers take the facts and fiction in the books and make it part of their life.”
“Ballpark Mysteries” – ‘Stats’ to date and what’s ‘on deck?’
To date, Kelly’s “Ballpark Mysteries” series has sold over 2 million copies of the 28 titles, with nine ballparks still to go.
The first 22 titles were published by Random House, but at one, maybe two titles per year, the prolific Kelly was looking to pitch ‘fast balls,’ so started his own publishing company, Curve Ball Books, to make for the ‘quicker releases.’
“The newer books,” said Kelly, “are published by me.”
The most recent was Rumble Monkey Mix-Up, a Los Angeles Angels mystery set in Anaheim Rumble Monkey Mix-Up – Los Angeles Angels Mystery set in Anaheim CA published in April of this year.
‘On deck’ is a Pittsburg Pirates book ‘at bat’ later this year or early 2027.
Make that eight ballparks to go…
They are a lot of work,” summed Kelly, “but a lot of fun to write.”
And … he always hopes … “a lot of fun to read.”
This article originally appeared on Observer-Dispatch: New Hartford native pens baseball mysteries for kids
Reporting by Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch / Observer-Dispatch
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cara Dolan Berry, Utica Observer Dispatch | USA TODAY Network
