Author: Tim Green Review Issue Date: August 15, 2021 Online Publish Date: July 27, 2021 Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins Pages: 304 Price (Hardcover): $16.99 Publication Date: September 14, 2021 ISBN (Hardcover): 978-0-06-248595-3 Section: Children’s
A star 12-year-old quarterback has a championship to win, a developing family tragedy to cope with, and a life-changing decision to make.
Barely disguising the autobiographical elements contained here in the wake of his own diagnosis of ALS, former Atlanta Falcons player Green places his protagonist, Ben Redd, in a football family and on an upstate New York team coached by his dad and two older brothers—all former gridiron stars themselves. Ben’s anticipation as he looks forward to a season that will be capped by a game against archrival Penn Yan battles with his terror as he watches his father’s NFL injuries come home to roost in slurred speech, loss of physical coordination, and, eventually, a frantic trip to the hospital for an emergency tracheotomy. But as Ben’s parents, both iron willed, clash over whether he should be allowed to follow the family career path (and one of his brothers even announces that none of his kids will ever play), the sport’s allure comes through in a series of exciting clashes, with Ben and wonderfully hard-nosed new teammate, Thea Jean, leading the on-field heroics on the way to a last-yard, smash-mouth finale that leaves him dazed and exultant, with a broken finger, a probable concussion…and a choice of futures. Though the cast is mostly male and mostly White, between them, Thea and Ben’s mom add strong female representation.
An intense referendum on football’s dangers and glories.
Sept. 2021. 304p. Harper, $16.99 (9780062485953). Gr. 4–7
Ben, the quarterback of his sixth-grade football team, is looking forward to a special season. His teammates are friends, and his coaches are Ben’s beloved father, who is a retired NFL player, and his two older brothers, former high-school football stars. When Dad tells his sons that he has been diagnosed with ALS, they’re shaken yet confident that he can carry on as usual. But as the season progresses, the disease takes its toll. Mom becomes adamant that Ben should quit football to avoid concussions and possible brain damage. Meanwhile, a girl who joins Ben’s football team meets some initial resistance from fellow players, but she earns their respect with her courage, skills, and tenacity. Green, a writer, attorney, and former NFL player who announced his ALS diagnosis in 2018, based the story on his experiences while coaching his youngest son’s team along with his two older sons. While football fans will enjoy the play-by-play action, the heart of the story lies in its depiction of strong family relationships. A winning sports novel, on and off the field.
New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the co-author with Tim Green, a former NFL player and commentator, of this engaging story of a boy, of baseball and of a gift.
Middle-schooler Jalen DeLuca loves baseball and he desperately wants to come up with the money required to play on the elite travel team. But his father is barely making ends meet as the owner and cook at their local diner. Jalen’s mother, a singer, left them years ago.
Jalen is biracial and bullied by a big galoot on the baseball team. But Jalen’s determined not to let anything stand between him and his dream of a shot at the big leagues. So he decides to sneak onto the grounds of a nearby mansion owned by Yankee second baseman, James Yager, to steal practice balls from the batting cage so he can sell them and raise the entry fee money for the travel team.
Jalen gets caught in the act, but cuts a deal to help Yager get back to the top of his game. How? Well, Jalen is a “baseball genius.” The kid has a gift for reading a pitcher, knowing what ball he’s going to throw before he throws it. It’s just what Yager, who is in a batting slump, needs to boost his career.
Jalen is an only child, but he has good friends helping him along the way, particularly Cat, the beautiful, rich, smart friend who always has the answer Jalen is looking for, sometimes before he even realizes it.
Short chapters, sympathetic characters and compelling writing make the book a fun read. Jalen is faced with difficult decisions throughout the story. Is he doing the right thing, making the right choices? Baseball fans will be rooting for him.
The one big problem with the book is the abrupt, cliffhanging ending. C’mon! The story is rolling and seems ripe for another chapter or two, but it ends like a ninth-inning strikeout with bases loaded. And then, like a TV show, the authors give a “sneak peek” into Baseball Genius #2: Double Play, which reveals that Jalen is in “a world of trouble.” In other words, buy the next book. The only reason to forgive this stunt is that the next book will probably be worth reading, too.
Ann Oldenburg, a freelance writer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, writes about television, celebrities and other pop culture topics. A University of Florida Gator with a degree in journalism, she began her career at The Washington Post and spent more than two decades with USA TODAY. She is the co-author of a travel guide book titled The Dog Lover’s Companion to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, with her husband, Don Oldenburg, a former Washington Post writer. She and Don, who have three sons, live in McLean, Va.
– See more at: http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=35133&StepNum=1&award=aw#sthash.LV0aDegw.dpuf
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Review:
New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the co-author with Tim Green, a former NFL player and commentator, of this engaging story of a boy, of baseball and of a gift.
Middle-schooler Jalen DeLuca loves baseball and he desperately wants to come up with the money required to play on the elite travel team. But his father is barely making ends meet as the owner and cook at their local diner. Jalen’s mother, a singer, left them years ago.
Jalen is biracial and bullied by a big galoot on the baseball team. But Jalen’s determined not to let anything stand between him and his dream of a shot at the big leagues. So he decides to sneak onto the grounds of a nearby mansion owned by Yankee second baseman, James Yager, to steal practice balls from the batting cage so he can sell them and raise the entry fee money for the travel team.
Jalen gets caught in the act, but cuts a deal to help Yager get back to the top of his game. How? Well, Jalen is a “baseball genius.” The kid has a gift for reading a pitcher, knowing what ball he’s going to throw before he throws it. It’s just what Yager, who is in a batting slump, needs to boost his career.
Jalen is an only child, but he has good friends helping him along the way, particularly Cat, the beautiful, rich, smart friend who always has the answer Jalen is looking for, sometimes before he even realizes it.
Short chapters, sympathetic characters and compelling writing make the book a fun read. Jalen is faced with difficult decisions throughout the story. Is he doing the right thing, making the right choices? Baseball fans will be rooting for him.
New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the co-author with Tim Green, a former NFL player and commentator, of this engaging story of a boy, of baseball and of a gift.
Middle-schooler Jalen DeLuca loves baseball and he desperately wants to come up with the money required to play on the elite travel team. But his father is barely making ends meet as the owner and cook at their local diner. Jalen’s mother, a singer, left them years ago.
Jalen is biracial and bullied by a big galoot on the baseball team. But Jalen’s determined not to let anything stand between him and his dream of a shot at the big leagues. So he decides to sneak onto the grounds of a nearby mansion owned by Yankee second baseman, James Yager, to steal practice balls from the batting cage so he can sell them and raise the entry fee money for the travel team.
Jalen gets caught in the act, but cuts a deal to help Yager get back to the top of his game. How? Well, Jalen is a “baseball genius.” The kid has a gift for reading a pitcher, knowing what ball he’s going to throw before he throws it. It’s just what Yager, who is in a batting slump, needs to boost his career.
Jalen is an only child, but he has good friends helping him along the way, particularly Cat, the beautiful, rich, smart friend who always has the answer Jalen is looking for, sometimes before he even realizes it.
Short chapters, sympathetic characters and compelling writing make the book a fun read. Jalen is faced with difficult decisions throughout the story. Is he doing the right thing, making the right choices? Baseball fans will be rooting for him.
The one big problem with the book is the abrupt, cliffhanging ending. C’mon! The story is rolling and seems ripe for another chapter or two, but it ends like a ninth-inning strikeout with bases loaded. And then, like a TV show, the authors give a “sneak peek” into Baseball Genius #2: Double Play, which reveals that Jalen is in “a world of trouble.” In other words, buy the next book. The only reason to forgive this stunt is that the next book will probably be worth reading, too.
Ann Oldenburg, a freelance writer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, writes about television, celebrities and other pop culture topics. A University of Florida Gator with a degree in journalism, she began her career at The Washington Post and spent more than two decades with USA TODAY. She is the co-author of a travel guide book titled The Dog Lover’s Companion to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, with her husband, Don Oldenburg, a former Washington Post writer. She and Don, who have three sons, live in McLean, Va.
– See more at: http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=35133&StepNum=1&award=aw#sthash.LV0aDegw.dpuf
New York Yankees star Derek Jeter is the co-author with Tim Green, a former NFL player and commentator, of this engaging story of a boy, of baseball and of a gift.
Middle-schooler Jalen DeLuca loves baseball and he desperately wants to come up with the money required to play on the elite travel team. But his father is barely making ends meet as the owner and cook at their local diner. Jalen’s mother, a singer, left them years ago.
Jalen is biracial and bullied by a big galoot on the baseball team. But Jalen’s determined not to let anything stand between him and his dream of a shot at the big leagues. So he decides to sneak onto the grounds of a nearby mansion owned by Yankee second baseman, James Yager, to steal practice balls from the batting cage so he can sell them and raise the entry fee money for the travel team.
Jalen gets caught in the act, but cuts a deal to help Yager get back to the top of his game. How? Well, Jalen is a “baseball genius.” The kid has a gift for reading a pitcher, knowing what ball he’s going to throw before he throws it. It’s just what Yager, who is in a batting slump, needs to boost his career.
Jalen is an only child, but he has good friends helping him along the way, particularly Cat, the beautiful, rich, smart friend who always has the answer Jalen is looking for, sometimes before he even realizes it.
Short chapters, sympathetic characters and compelling writing make the book a fun read. Jalen is faced with difficult decisions throughout the story. Is he doing the right thing, making the right choices? Baseball fans will be rooting for him.
The one big problem with the book is the abrupt, cliffhanging ending. C’mon! The story is rolling and seems ripe for another chapter or two, but it ends like a ninth-inning strikeout with bases loaded. And then, like a TV show, the authors give a “sneak peek” into Baseball Genius #2: Double Play, which reveals that Jalen is in “a world of trouble.” In other words, buy the next book. The only reason to forgive this stunt is that the next book will probably be worth reading, too.
Ann Oldenburg, a freelance writer and adjunct professor at Georgetown University, writes about television, celebrities and other pop culture topics. A University of Florida Gator with a degree in journalism, she began her career at The Washington Post and spent more than two decades with USA TODAY. She is the co-author of a travel guide book titled The Dog Lover’s Companion to Washington, D.C. and Baltimore, with her husband, Don Oldenburg, a former Washington Post writer. She and Don, who have three sons, live in McLean, Va.
– See more at: http://www.parents-choice.org/product.cfm?product_id=35133&StepNum=1&award=aw#sthash.LV0aDegw.dpuf
From the first page to the last, Jalen Deluca’s exploits with his friends will keep readers in suspense. Living with his dad in a run-down train station, Jalen helps his struggling father operate the Silver Liner Diner. More than anything, Jalen wants to get on a baseball travel team this summer, but he can’t afford the exorbitant fees. In a gambit to steal and sell signed baseballs from star Yankees player James Yager’s home batting cage, Jalen is caught by the player himself. In a panic, Jalen reveals his secret: he is a baseball genius, who just might revitalize Yager’s fading career. Jalen Deluca has a gifted math mind, with the ability to see, remember, and analyze a pitcher’s statistics with ease. Even better, using preternatural ability, he can predict the pitches with accuracy before they are thrown. This proves lucky for Yager, an aging future hall of famer who is in the crosshairs of the General Manager for his dismal batting average. Green and Jeter know how to grab readers and keep them hooked all the way through this middle grade sports fiction. It is a page turner for baseball fans who revel in realistic gamesmanship and play-by-play excitement. This is a winner! Lonna Pierce, School Librarian, MacArthur & Thomas Jefferson Elementary Schools, Binghamton, New York
Highly Recommended
