Editorial Content for The Only Game
Book
Contributors
Reviewer (text)
Jack Callahan is the best Little League player in Walton. He's the star pitcher, a home-run hitter and a great shortstop. For Jack, baseball is more than a calling; it's everything. This year, his team is going to make it all the way to the Little League World Series. It's their year; everybody can feel it. So why does Jack quit after the very first practice?
Whatever the reason, the fallout of quitting the team alienates Jack from some of his best friends, like Gus, who seems especially hurt by Jack's decision. When Gus blows up at Jack in the cafeteria, Jack finds a surprising ally in Cassie Bennett, star of the softball team. Cassie is the only person not pressuring Jack to go back to baseball, and they form a quick friendship. Jack also befriends Teddy, who gets picked on for being overweight. With these new friends and a little time away from the only game Jack's ever known, he learns something valuable about himself. But is it enough to get Jack back in the game? His team's been losing without him. Is it too late to find his way back?
Certainly this book is going to find an audience among some real Little Leaguers. I wouldn't be surprised to see it hanging out of bat bags or sitting on the bleachers.
Mike Lupica knows his way around a sports scene. Every game in the book is exciting from start to finish. You feel like you're in the stands watching a real game. It helps to be a fan of baseball because Lupica drops in lines and words that only players and fans are going to pick up on, but that's the book's charm. Certainly this book is going to find an audience among some real Little Leaguers. I wouldn't be surprised to see it hanging out of bat bags or sitting on the bleachers.
But if you think this is just another Mike Lupica book about baseball, you'd be wrong. There's plenty to love for the sports fans, but this book has some real heart and a couple of moments that might choke you up. This book has baseball in it, sure, but it's really a book about finding friendship in unexpected places, coming to terms with difficult situations, finding confidence and persevering through the end. Reluctant readers will find themselves drawn in by the great scenes of baseball, but any reader is going to enjoy this book.
Sometimes the book moves a little too fast, as it seems like some of the major conflicts get resolved midway through the book. However, that leaves plenty of space for some amazing baseball action. Lupica also has a great sense of humor and a great ear for writing middle-school dialogue. Kids are going to relate to Jack and his friends because they speak and act like regular kids.
This is the first of four books in a new series about Walton. Each book will follow one of four friends living in the town, and I, as a former softball player, can't wait to read more about Cassie the softball star!
Teaser
Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and sixth grade is supposed to be his year. That is, until he up and quits. Jack’s best friend can’t understand how he could leave a game that means so much. But Jack’s brother has passed away, and though everyone thinks baseball is just the thing he needs to move on, Jack feels it’s anything but. In comes Cassie Bennett, star softball player, and the only person who seems to think Jack shouldn’t play if he doesn’t want to. As Jack and Cassie’s friendship deepens, their circle expands to include Teddy, a guy who’s been picked on because of his weight.
Promo
Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and sixth grade is supposed to be his year. That is, until he up and quits. Jack’s best friend can’t understand how he could leave a game that means so much. But Jack’s brother has passed away, and though everyone thinks baseball is just the thing he needs to move on, Jack feels it’s anything but. In comes Cassie Bennett, star softball player, and the only person who seems to think Jack shouldn’t play if he doesn’t want to. As Jack and Cassie’s friendship deepens, their circle expands to include Teddy, a guy who’s been picked on because of his weight.
About the Book
Can a young baseball star maintain his love of the game after the loss of his brother? Find out in this start to the Home Team series about a small town with high hopes, from New York Times bestselling author and sportswriting legend Mike Lupica.
Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and sixth grade is supposed to be his year. Undefeated season. Records shattered. Little League World Series. The works. That is, until he up and quits.
Jack’s best friend Gus can’t understand how Jack could leave a game that means more to them than anything else. But Jack is done. It’s a year of change. Jack’s brother has passed away, and though his family and friends and the whole town of Walton thinks baseball is just the thing he needs to move on, Jack feels it’s anything but.
In comes Cassie Bennett, star softball player, and the only person who seems to think Jack shouldn’t play if he doesn’t want to. As Jack and Cassie’s friendship deepens, their circle expands to include Teddy, a guy who’s been picked on because of his weight.
Time spent with these new friends unlocks something within Jack, and with their help and the support of his family and his old friends, Jack discovers sometimes it’s more than just the love of the game that keeps us moving --- and he might just be able to find his way back to THE ONLY GAME.
