Force Out

February 1, 2013
Two sixth-grade Little Leaguers and best buddies find their friendship tested on and off the diamond. Zach is Joey's best buddy on and off the baseball field, so when Zach needs to get out of a science field trip that's scheduled on the same day as the Little League championship game, the sixth-graders are in it together. But their scheme comes back to haunt them when Zach makes the all-star team instead of Joey, and Joey has to wonder whether he might have won the spot if Zach had gone on the field trip. A cute girl might like only one boy, too. Though Green is no stylist, he does a better job of avoiding the sports fantasy and sticking to real life than usual. There's plenty of play-by-play for those who want the sports to be the focus, but the interactions off the field are never shortchanged. For example, Joey has an obnoxious younger brother, his parents don't always agree, and he learns that trying to dance to a fast song can be as embarrassing as your first almost-kiss. A slice of life for middle school readers who know that their sport is a microcosm of the larger world. (Fiction. 9-13)

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March 1, 2013

Gr 4-6-Sixth-graders Joey and Zach share a dream: after the Little League championships, they'll get chosen for the all-stars and, from there, the Center State Select team. The friends are so focused on their goal that Joey comes up with the idea of tampering with their teacher's pickup truck to prevent Mr. Kratz from taking the class on an extra-credit field trip that would keep Zach from participating in the championship game. That action haunts Joey for much of the story, especially since his mom is a sheriff's deputy with an uncanny ability to sniff out the truth. Exhausted and riddled with guilt and worry, he flubs the championship, and, ironically, only Zach is chosen for the all-stars. Joey gets a second chance when one of the players has to back out. Even though his mom is unrelenting in her investigation, Joey begins to believe Zach's prediction that things are going to work out. They are floored when Coach tells them that there is only one open infielder spot on the team. Suddenly, the dynamics of their friendship change, and that change is magnified when Joey discovers that the girl he likes has cast him aside for Zach. The choices that Joey ultimately makes, the realistic portrayal of friendship lost and later restored, and the abundant baseball action guarantee that this book will find wide appeal among Green's many fans.-Kim Dare, Fairfax County Public Schools, VA

Copyright 2013 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2013
Grades 4-6 Green stirs together guilt, baseball, and sharp competition between friends in his latest sports novel. To get a field trip canceled in order togive his buddy Zach a chance to try out with him for a Little League all-star team, Joey vandalizes a teacher's car. He's then faced with the double struggle of having to play like a star against increasingly talented opponents and keeping his secret from his mothera smart, relentless police officer. Featuring plenty of on-field action, the tale rises on twin tides of physical and psychological suspense to a climax in which Joey and Zach find themselves competing for a single spot on a select team. The author makes one misstep by inserting a pretty, thoroughly objectified classmate solely to serve as a bone of contention between the two sixth-graders, and another by having Joey's mother reveal she's been testing him, waiting to see if he'd admit guilt on his own (questionable behavior for a parent). Otherwise, this is an engrossing, tightly knit tale cast in short chapters and simple language that make it suitable for reluctant readers.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2013, American Library Association.)