Howling, Erc. Red Zone Rivals.September 17th 2014 by James Lorimer & Company
E ARC from Netgalley.com
Quinn and Luke are both quarterbacks on their high school team. Their coach quits, and the new coach is a businessman who had played for the school when he was a student. The team is struggling because the school is small, so the coach challenges the student body to try out. One of the boys who does is Walker, whose father was killed in the car crash that cost him his leg. His upper body strength is fantastic, and he can throw a football further than anyone else on the team, but he has trouble running. Quinn is at odds with Luke, breaks up with his girlfriend Emma, and is struggling in math. Walker helps to tutor him, and Quinn stands up for Walker when he tries out for the team and the other players, including Luke, give him a hard time. A fight with Luke gets Quinn suspended from the team for three games, and there are still more problems in his future, including his father's poor health.
Strengths: This had lots of good football plays (I judge books on whether or not I can understand what goes on on the field-- if I can't, I know my students will be happy!) plus some really interesting drama. I could guess what would happen to Quinn's father, but students might still be surprised. I need a TON of these high interest/low level sports books for my reluctant readers.
Weaknesses: ONLY AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK!!! IN CANADA!!! ARGGGGGGGH! I loved this author's Hoop Magic. Don't taunt me on Netgalley if I can't get copies in the US, Lorimer!
The Lorimer Sports books are awesome. I wish we had a US version, since some of the terms and settings are a bit foreign to my students.
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