Touchdown Kid

Green, Tim. Touchdown Kid
October 3rd 2017 by HarperCollins
Library copy

Cory is a decent football player; not as good as his friend Liam, who has been given a scholarship at a prestigious private school, but pretty good. When Liam is badly injured in front of the school scout, Cory is offerred his scholarship. He really wants to take it-- he lives in a rough Westside neighborhood with his single mother-- but there are some stipulations he doesn't like. In order to attend the school and play on the team, he has to live with a host family, the Muillers. The son seems nice, but the daughter is very pretty and rather dangerous, and the parents seem too sure of themselves and too aware of what a favor they are doing for Cory. He eventually gets his mom to let him take the scholarship, but things do not go smoothly at school. The evil Mike Chester keeps giving him a hard time, even pushing him in the locker room and injuring Cory's ankle badly enough that he can't play for a week. Cory does make some allies with his other teammates, but never feels entirely comfortable. When the Muillers' house is broken into and a lot of expensive jewelry is stolen, the police look at Cory with suspicion, especially after some of the comments he has made at school to get Mike off his case.
Strengths: There need to be more books with characters whose lives aren't solidly middle class. There are a lot of children for whom a new pair of shoes is a very big deal, so Cory's thrift store boat shoes and WalMart polos ring true. There are also children who have lives like the Muillers, so it was interesting to see the interplay between the two. Lots of football, and I have readers who will read anything that Green writes. Not as sad as it could have been, so this one was a touchdown for me!
Weaknesses: The minute the security code was mentioned, I knew that something would go down. Saw that one all too easily. Also, wished that the two socioeconomic classes had gotten along better.
What I really think: Bought without reading. That's how much I like Green!