Sports fan?

I've been in a reading rut lately, partially due to circumstances and partially due to my inability to put work down when I get home at night. Since I had a little more time to myself over Thanksgiving weekend, I thought I'd try to catch up on some sports fiction, esp. for boys. I have a hard time recommending titles to them and actually being able to discuss them unless I've read them. My hook is usually, "well, this one is popular here" or "this one's about football, why don't you try it." Not very persuasive but sometimes it works. So now I have two solid recommendations, one oldie, and one newbie (in my mind). Either of these titles would be great for both girls and boys. Of course there is a little romance in them and high school drama, something most girls probably enjoy. Then there's the football angle. If you follow football and understand the lingo, these will satisfy your sports craving.

Pop by Gordon Korman
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Marcus is a brave high schooler who unknowingly moves to a town where a NFL legend lives. Marcus meets Charlie one day when he's practicing plays in the town park. Charlie is athletic, older, and a phenom with a football. He is also quirky and disappears on a dime, takes things from stores w/o paying for them, and seems to know everyone in town. It takes a little bit but eventually Marcus realizes that Charlie is the father of the town quarterback hero, Troy Popovich. Unfortunately, Troy and Marcus are main rivals on the team. While Marcus proves himself to be a versatile player all over the field, Troy solely plays quarterback and sees Marcus as a huge threat, especially when he learns how close his father and Marcus have gotten over football practice. Charlie pays more attention and praise to Marcus than his own son. Troy and his sister are very protective of Charlie and see Marcus as someone who might expose the secret they're trying to hide, a secret that could damage the legend status of Charlie Popovich. Of course there's a surprise close to the end and it's not a happy one. This is a very good sports book that makes you analyze whether playing football can actually be more detrimental than we realize to our young players and if it's worth it in the end to have them bashing helmets in games. I highly recommend this to all ages and both girls and boys!

View all my reviews Unstoppable by Tim Green
My rating: 4 of 5 stars



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