Double Reverse

by Fred Bowen

Overview

The Franklin High Panthers need a new quarterback.

Freshman Jesse Wagner knows the plays, but he feels he is too small to be QB material. Jesse's brother Jay has a problem of his own: his college coach wants him to switch from quarterback to safety. The brothers agree on a deal: Jesse will try out for quarterback, and Jay will try playing safety.

Meanwhile, Jesse and his teammates recruit an unlikely kicker for their team―a girl named Savannah who is a goalie from the girls' soccer team.

In the afterword, Bowen provides real stories of successful professional athletes, like Pro Football Hall of Famer Fran Tarkenton, who did not "look the part."

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781561458073
Publisher:	Holiday House
Publication date:	08/05/2014
Series:	Fred Bowen Sports Story Series , #19
Pages:	144
Sales rank:	1,058,823
Product dimensions:	5.20(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.30(d)
Lexile:	630L (what's this?)
Age Range:	7 - 12 Years

About the Author

Fred Bowen was a Little Leaguer who loved to read and is still a lifelong sports fanatic. He is the author of the action-packed Fred Bowen Sports Story series, currently totaling more than twenty titles. For thirteen years, Bowen coached kids' baseball and basketball teams. He has also written a weekly sports column for kids in the Washington Post since 2000. He was a lawyer for many years before retiring to become a full-time children's book author.Bowen lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with his wife Peggy Jackson. They have two grown children.

Editorial Reviews

"This tale of confident persistence will ring true for all the kids who have been told they're too small or too female. . . . An apt choice to surprise a young football fan with the power of words." —Kirkus Reviews

"Filled with descriptions of the games, practices, and plays, the quick plot and likable characters will appeal to football fans. . . . [A] solid choice for struggling readers." —Booklist Online

From the Publisher

2014-06-25
Loosely based on real-life stories of football players who didn't look the part, this tale of confident persistence will ring true for all the kids who have been told they're too small or too female.Jesse Wagner doesn't look like a quarterback. His friend Savannah doesn't look like a kicker, mostly because she's a girl. Despite the fact they don't look like the types of players to excel at their chosen positions, with lots of practice and innate talent, they lead their freshman football team, the Panthers, through a great season. While Jesse and his friends work hard on their home field, Jesse's brother, Jay, does his best in his new position on the field at Dartmouth College. Bowen, author of a couple dozen middle school novels based on sports, offers a tale for the reluctant reader who is captivated by football. There's plenty of descriptive action on the field and even a few diagrams of different key plays to enhance the text. Readers whose interests lie elsewhere might not be as excited, since character development is minimal, and every relationship maintains a steady, conflict-free path that lacks tension. The simple sentences and basic vocabulary of this novel will be attractive to struggling readers.An apt choice to surprise a young football fan with the power of words. (Fiction. 8-12)

Kirkus Reviews