July 1, 1999
Gr 4-7-This addition to the series revolves around the attempt of four friends to make the junior high school basketball team. Any youngster who has been involved in this kind of situation will identify with the characters' obsessive interest in evaluating the competition and enhancing their own chances of making the team. For better or worse, the self-image of adolescent boys is often closely tied to their success in sports and one of the strengths of the book is the openness with which Bowen examines this issue. There is a particularly moving passage in which the protagonist's stepfather recounts his experience in being cut from a school team in a manner that makes it clear that the incident still bothers him. While a little thin in character development, the novel is briskly paced and would be a good bet for use with sports-minded reluctant readers.-Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
Copyright 1999 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.