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| Crutcher, Chris |
Whale Talk
I liked this book. I was completely
caught up in the story. TJ, short for The Tao Jones is biracial,
adopted and angry. He is intellectually as well as athletically
gifted and wickedly sarcastic. Looking back, there were a few
plot stretches and some melodrama that did not ring absolutely
true but so much of this book tells it like it is when it comes
to high school sports, snobbery, child abuse, racism and elitism
in general. TJ frankly discusses sex and sexual attraction, and
also uses some pretty strong language, so this title is for more
mature readers. |
| Deuker, Carl |
Gym Candy
Sixteen-year-old running back Mick Johnson was practically born with a football in his hands. It’s in his genes; since his dad had been a third round draft pick and his mom was a gymnast. His dad has groomed him for a career in football and even left a wall in the den uncovered by trophies for Mick’s future trophies. Mick started school a year later and received exemptions to play with younger boys and attended all kinds of football camps. While he has the talent and the drive to excel, when makes the varsity team as a freshman, he sees his edge slipping. When he misses the glory of game-saving hero by one foot, he devotes the off-season to serious weight training. But no matter how much he lifts, he isn’t making his goals. The steroids his personal trainer offered earlier become increasingly tempting.
This first-person narrative is riveting. Mick is a likable, believable character and the football sequences are exciting to read. Deuker is the thinking reader’s sports novelist as his stories and characters are complex and compelling.
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| Deuker, Carl |
Runner
Seventeen-year-old Chance Taylor has it tough. His mother ran out on the family leaving Chance with his alcoholic father who is out of work most of the time. Chance helps out by scrubbing dishes at a local restaurant but with rent due on the boat slip they dock their beaten up houseboat at, Chance needs to earn more money. Unfortunately, his employer can't give him more hours. About the only respite he has in his tenuous life is long distance running. He runs daily and his habit has come to the attention of the marina manager, who has a job offer. All Chance has to do on his daily run is pick up whatever packages he finds near some rocks and leave it in a locker. Chance knows that what he is doing is illegal, but if his dad loses the houseboat, they will be homeless.
This is a suspenseful, fast-paced read with likable, imperfect characters and enough plot twists to keep from being predictable.
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| Deuker, Carl |
Heart of a Champion
This is the story of Seth and Jimmy's friendship which begins when Seth meets Jimmy doing baseball drills with his father at a park and spans five years. Jimmy is a gifted baseball player and his father is very hard on him. Seth is nowhere near as good as Jimmy and has been fatherless since age seven.
It's a baseball story and the story of a friendship that might have lasted a lifetime had not an avoidable tragedy occurred.
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| Glenn, Mel |
Jump Ball: A Basketball
Season in Poems
I am becoming a huge fan of novels told in blank verse. There
are some great books out there and Mel Glenn has perfected the
art. Jump Ball follows the Tower High School Tigers from
pre-season to the bus ride to the championships. Senior Garrett
James is the team's star and seems destined to be recruited by
a division I school and future NBA glory. We hear from a lot
of different people involved with the team as well; from the
coach's wife through a retired postman who hangs around to help
out. This book would be a fun way to learn about irony and foreshadowing.
Many of the simplest poems are quite thought-provoking and may
be cause for some interesting debate. |
| Gratz, Alan |
Samurai Shortstop
I read this book entirely too quickly. Now that I am done, I miss it. It is both sports book (great baseball) and historical fiction and I hope it gets the reading it deserves.
Set in 1890, Samurai Shortstop tells the story of sixteen-year-old Toyo. Before he enters a prestigious boarding school he and his father help his uncle Koji commit seppuku, ritual suicide. Koji and Toyo's father are samurai. The emperor has outlawed the samurai and is bringing the west into Japan. Once at school, Toyo attempts to forget his uncle's death and his father's statement that Toyo will need to assist him when it is his time to commit seppuku. Unfortunately, life at school consists of ritualized hazing and all Toyo wants to do is make the baseball team.
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| Jenkins, A.M. |
Out of Order
Colt Trammel is a sophomore
who is a good enough baseball player to play varsity. He is about
to be benched by his mom and coach if he doesn't pull up his
failing grades. He hates school except for baseball and his girlfriend,
Grace. He thinks about nothing but baseball and Grace and whether
or not she will sleep with him. Now, he needs to think about
how he's going to get his grades up. He probably has a learning
disability which is undiagnosed probably because he became very
good at covering it up, mostly with an obnoxious attitude. He
is at the top of the popularity heap at school, loves to label
and intimidate people, is a liar and is terrified of being exposed
as "stupid."
This book takes place over five weeks of
Colt's life, is told from his point-of-view and though I was
sympathetic to some of his problems, I didn't like him much as
a person. This is not a "baseball" novel, but interesting
and thought-provoking. This book is for grades 7 and up, due
to Colt's often blunt language and fairly constant sexual thoughts
(no action).
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| Klass, David |
Home of the Braves
While not as compelling as
You Don't Know Me, it is a good sports novel. Joe is a
likable narrator even if his story is a little predictable. There
are scenes which are outright unbelievable and scenes which are
dead-on. Joe is a high school senior and captain of his soccer
and wrestling teams in a fictional high school in northern New
Jersey which overlooks Overpeck Creek, has a Broad and Fort Lee
Avenue, and a Boat Basin on the banks of the Hudson River. |
| Martino, Alfred C. |
Pinned
Bobby Zane and Ivan Korske couldn't
be more different or alike. They are both seniors, captain of
their respective wrestling teams and contenders for New Jersey
State Wrestling championship. Zane's father is a lawyer, his
mother is a successful real estate agent. They live in a fancy
house in an affluent town. Zane's high school team has a winning
tradition. That is not to say that Zane doesn't have problems;
his parents are fighting, he is fiercely protective of his younger
brother and he has a girlfriend from the "wrong side of
the tracks."
Korske hails from a blue collar town and
is the only thing good about his wrestling team which loses every
match. Ivan is a gifted wrestler and an angry one. He wrestled
to the semi-finals of the state championships the previous year
only to lose because of a time-keeper's error, his mother recently
died and his laborer father stubbornly refused to allow Ivan
to consider an out-of-state college.
The story of both boys is told in alternating
chapters culminating, of course, with them facing off at the
championship. Although I am unfamiliar with wrestling, I enjoyed
the descriptions of the training and matches. I would be interested
in hearing the opinion of students who are familiar with the
sport. The boys' life off the mat was engaging if a bit predictable
and I was disappointed in the ending.
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| Sweeney, Joyce |
Players
The basketball team is poised to win the all-city tournament
and the team members, who have been playing together since freshman
year want to win badly. This story is told from Corey's point
of view. There is one slot open on the first string and three
slots on second. Newcomer, Noah Travers, is a talented, cocky
ball-hog and wants a starting position badly. Corey's best friend
Luke takes an instant dislike to him and is the only one who
votes to keep him off the team. One-by-one, bad things happen
to each team member and their hopes for the tournament are beginning
to look bad. Fast-paced, sometimes unbelievable, but entertaining
sports mystery. |
| Tharp, Tim |
Knights of the Hill Country
This football story is unusual in many ways and I liked it very much. It features an extremely likable main character/ narrator named Hampton Green, high school senior and star linebacker for the Kenisaw Knights, who are looking to break a record for most undefeated seasons. Kenisaw, Oklahoma is all about football. Hamp loves it alright, but he also loves to watch the sunrise and while his teachers don't think much of him in the intelligence department, he is actually quite insightful.
Hamp's best friend is Blaine Keller. He is grateful for Blaine and his father for all they did for him since his father abandoned him and his mother years earlier. Hamp always thought he and Blaine were a unit and would both be offered scholarships to a football powerhouse but Blaine suffered a knee injury in his junior year and is just not a quick on the field where Hamp can't lose- things just click.
This is not a stereotypical sports story. It has interesting conflicts on and off the field. I am looking forward to more by this author.
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| Tigelaar, Liz |
Pretty Tough
Pretty trite, pretty predictable but fun with some decent soccer even if the ending is a bit, well, trite and predictable. Krista and Charlie, sisters who used to be close until Krista became more concerned with being popular than standing up for Charlie when she was betrayed and humiliated by her best friend a year earlier. Krista not only runs with the "in" crowd, but is a soccer star looking forward to being team captain. Charlie is an athlete in her own right but abandoned soccer for surfing until she is recruited by the school's new soccer coach who is trying to rebuild the program. Going out for the soccer team is the perfect way to getting under Krista's skin, so Charlie goes for it. |
| Trueman, Terry |
7 Days at the Hot Corner
This first person narrative is told by senior, varsity third baseman, Scott Latimer who, when he should be looking forward to the best week of baseball in his life, is also spending the week waiting to see if his AIDS test is positive. He should be concentrating on his baseball, but his emotions are reeling after his best friend comes out. He never had an inkling and is now in a panic because six months earlier, Travis bled all over him after he was struck in the face with a baseball. Even though the chances of Scott's contracting AIDS is slim, he insists on taking a screening test. He also needs to deal with his anger and confusion over the status of his friendship, worry that his team-mates will think he is gay by virtue of being best friends and wanting to do well during the tournament to increase his baseball prospects. |
| Wallace, Rich |
One Good Punch
This is not a boxing story; the sport the main character excels in is track. The "one good punch" is symbolic of a single decision or event that alters one's life so much that one can never recover.
Mike Kerrigan is a student athlete, who also has a part-time job writing obituaries for a newspaper in Scranton, PA. His plans include winning a state running title and leaving Scranton for college and never returning. When his best friend, Joey, calls to say that he left something in Mike's locker, he's a little ticked off, but not worried until he hears that the police are planning a locker sweep. He tries not to worry too much because even if the "something" was found in his locker, no one would ever believe that Mike could have anything to do with it.
While track is the focus of Mike's life, this is less a sports novel and more an exploration of character as Mike wrestles with the desire to save himself, to do the right thing and to avoid disappointing the people in his life he has always tried to please.
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| Zusak, Markus |
Fighting Ruben Wolfe
This book was first published
in Australia. Cameron and Ruben are two street smart brothers
who live in a working class neighborhood in a city in Australia.
Their father has recently become disabled due to a work-related
accident and money is tight. Cameron and Ruben are offered positions
as boxers and try to keep their new jobs secret from their family. |
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