Skinnybones by Barbara Parks

Here is The Diary of a Wimpy Kid in novel form... This boy's name is Alex, a reluctant baseball player and the runt of his team. In order to make up for his small stature, he has developed an extra-large mouth. Fortunately, he has a brain and the wit to back it up.

T.J. Stoner, the class baseball hero, is one who is not amused by Alex's verbosity. In fact, they become enemies, and poor Alex has one of the worst experiences of his young life when his baseball team (which has never won a game) goes up against Alex's undefeated team. Alex's humiliation will be filmed by local TV.

It all ends up well for Alex when his snarkiness unexpectedly saves the day in a way he never intended.

I'd like to give it a 3 Flag rating, but there's one cra_, a but_, and Alex's is a bit too cavalier about lying to his mom and about his friend cheating off of him in math. At least, his mom is on the ball and will punish him, even staying a step ahead of Alex with her clever parenting skills. His dad is no push-over, either, and Alex would be a handful for less capable parents...

Safety Rating: 2 Flags, High-readability.