Dinged: (A Game Changer companion novel)

by Tommy Greenwald

Overview

A star football player watches his father deteriorate from injuries he suffered playing the very same sport

Caleb Springer is the up-and-coming star freshman quarterback on the high school football team, which isn't a surprise considering his dad, Sammy Springer, was an NFL superstar and is now the town celebrity. College scouts are already snooping around Caleb, and his future seems set.

But just as Caleb’s glory days begin, his dad starts to change. He’s forgetting things and getting angry at random times. Caleb is forced to confront a bleak possibility: The sport that gives him so much status and self-worth might be the cause of his dad’s strange behavior. Will Caleb keep playing the sport of his dreams, even if he knows how dangerous it can be?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781647003395
Publisher:	ABRAMS
Publication date:	09/06/2022
Series:	Game Changer
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	289,989
File size:	2 MB
Age Range:	10 - 14 Years

About the Author

Tommy Greenwald is the author of Game Changer, Rivals, and Dinged. Game Changer is on 18 state lists, was an Amazon Best Book of the Month, a YALSA Top Ten pick, and a Junior Library Guild Premier selection. Rivals was also an Amazon Best Book of the Month, a Junior Library Guild selection, and a YALSA Quick Pick for Reluctant Young Adult Readers. Greenwald is also the author of the Crimebiters! and Charlie Joe Jackson series, among many other books for children. Day job–wise, Greenwald is the cofounder of Spotco Advertising, a theatrical and entertainment advertising agency in New York City, and the lyricist and co-bookwriter (with Andrew Lippa) of John & Jen, an off-Broadway musical that has been produced around the country and internationally. To read woefully outdated information about him, visit tommygreenwald.com. Lesley Vamos earned a Bachelor of Digital Media with High Distinction from the University of New South Wales Art and Design, along with an honorary award in hand-drawn animation despite continuing to hold her pencil incorrectly. Vamos has been running her illustration and design business for over a decade and is passionate about telling stories that put good into the world. She lives in Sydney with her partner, two children, and a small floofer named Penny.

Editorial Reviews

"The author folds frightening scenes with an injured teammate and another ex–NFL player into the story as he takes his confused protagonist through the championship game to a decision that may be smart even if just possibly too late... A cogent cautionary tale."—Kirkus Reviews

From the Publisher

2022-05-25
A talented high school quarterback weighs gridiron glory against the scary possibility of permanent brain damage.

Greenwald lays out a scenario—set a few years later at the same school as in Game Changer (2018)—that will give anyone whose world revolves around strapping on shoulder pads and getting into the huddle second thoughts. As he leads the Walthorne Wildcats through an undefeated season, freshman quarterback Caleb Springer shows every sign of being well on the way to following his father’s footsteps into the NFL…except that ominous symptoms follow every hard hit he takes to the head, and as the season wears on, he also sees his strong, confident dad exhibiting ever more erratic behavior, uncharacteristic bursts of anger, and serious signs of memory loss. Will Caleb’s love of the game, combined with the high expectations of his father, teammates, coaches, and fellow students, spur him to carry on despite determined opposition from his tough-minded new girlfriend, Nina Rojas, and even after his dad, forced at last to see a neurologist, gets a diagnosis of early-onset dementia? Along with a list of resources at the end, the author folds frightening scenes with an injured teammate and another ex–NFL player into the story as he takes his confused protagonist through the championship game to a decision that may be smart even if just possibly too late. The cast mainly presents White.

A cogent cautionary tale showing football at its most violent and joyless. (author’s note) (Sports fiction. 10-14)

Kirkus Reviews