The Game Can't Love You Back

April 1, 2018

Gr 9 Up-Due to a freak fire over winter break, Farmington South High School must share space with its rival, Farmington East. The two baseball teams, with two headed-for-fame pitchers, must become one, but how can they? Eva Marshall, from burnt-up Farmington South, is the youngest sister of three athletic brothers. She has been recently featured in a girl power article in Sports Illustrated and is cheered on at her games by adoring middle school girls. Her nemesis, Jamie Abrams, is tough, forced to work after school to make ends meet for his single mom and is barely passing his core classes. Both pitchers are determined to win the prestigious Cy Young Trophy. The secondary characters in the fast-paced story are credible and avoid stereotypes. The adults-from parents to older siblings to the coach-are multidimensional and helpful. Written in the present tense and alternating between Eva and Jamie's viewpoints, the story flows as readers suffer over each obstacle and thrill at each victory. Cozzo's twist ending is to be applauded. VERDICT A strong addition to any young adult library, especially where sports fiction is needed.-Janet Gross, Cushing Academy, Ashburnham, MA

Copyright 2018 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

April 15, 2018
Grades 8-11 Fans of the gone-too-soon Pitch will find much to enjoy in this sporty, dual-perspective romance. Eve is used to being the only girl on the baseball team, but everything changes when a freak fire forces her school to combine with that of a neighboring town, and suddenly she's vying for the primo pitching position with their star pitcher. Jamie's had his eye on the Cy Young Award forever?�pitching is his only ticket to college and beyond, given his grades and his family's economic situation, and he's not giving it up easily to the girl featured in Sports Illustrated. Despite their best intentions and denial, the two fall hard for each other but keep their relationship a secret?or at least, they try to. Cozzo makes great use of the paired points of view in this compulsively readable book. Though some of the supporting cast is not nearly as well developed as Eve and Jamie, there's still plenty to root for in this title. There may be no crying in baseball, but no one said anything about kissing.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)