Guy Friday- QB1

Lupica, Mike. QB1
September 17th 2013 by Philomel

Jake plays football. Not only football, but football in Texas, where his older brother Wyatt just had a winning season and is now playing college ball for the Longhorns. Jake's father made it as far as big league ball, although his career was ended by concussions. Jake has made the team, but doesn't feel that he is as good as Wyatt. Nobody does. Jake has to readjust his style, come to terms with his relationship with his style, and put up with a lot of grief because he is a Cullen, and other players on his team have certain expectations of what he will be like. He is also interested in a slightly older cheerleader, Sarah, who was rather fond of his brother.
Strengths: More descriptions of football plays than I could EVER possibly understand and a good overview of what it is like to play football in Texas. I had no idea that the towns were so insane about it. Lupica is a master at describing rocky father-son relationships, and this is a fantastic stand alone novel that my football loving boys will love.
Weaknesses:  Lupica usually writes feisty girl characters, so I was surprised that Sarah was such a one dimensional cheerleader. The only reason Jake seemed to like her was that she was pretty. Boo.