Category Archives: Sports

Genre

Sep
07
2014

The Million Dollar Shot, by Dan Gutman

Posted by

51vt0pyWD0L._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_

The Million Dollar Shot by Dan Gutman is a great book. The main character is Eddie Ball. He is a nice kid who does nice things for people, including his best friend, Annie Oakely. He also loves basketball. Eddie lives in a trailer park in Louisiana with his mom.

Eddie’s mom works at a place called Finkles (They sell things called Finkles. They are a very unhealthy snack). Finkles is having a poetry contest.  The winner of the contest wins a trip to New York and gets to go to a Knicks game.  The winner gets a chance to sink a foul shot.  If they do, they will get a million dollars, and a lifetime supply of Finkles.  And if the person fails, all they get a life time supply of finkles. Eddie and his mom are very poor and barely get enough money to survive. Eddie wants to help his family and his friend by taking the Million Dollar shot.Unfortunately, Eddie isn’t allowed to enter the compitaion because the rules state that relatives of employees are not allowed to participate in the contest.  Eddie’s mom eventually gets fired from Finkels and Eddie can get in the poetry compitian, but can he win the compitaion!?

One important part of the book is when Eddie and Annie see their parents kissing.  This is important because Eddie gets distracted and starts missing some free throws while he’s practicing for a big day.  Eddie is upset when he sees his mom kissing another man.  Will Eddie calm down before his big moment in the spotlight?!  Find out all this in the book!

 

I really enjoyed the book because it’s about basketball, and it’s very realistic too. I really liked that Eddie went to a Knicks game in New York because I live in New York and I like the New York Knicks.  I also really liked when Eddie was in the locker room before the big moment all the Knicks players were saying, I hope you sink the shot and other positive comments.  I’d recommend this book to kids 8+ because if they are younger they would only understand why the title is called The Million Dollar Shot, but they wouldn’t understand what happens in the life that Eddie is living. I rate it infinity out of 5 stars.

 

Sep
07
2014

Game Face by sylvia Gunnery

Posted by

One of the books I read this summer is called Game Face by Sylvia Gunnery which takes place in a small town in Nova Scotia, Canada. The main character’s names are Jay and Colin who used to be good friends and now they are fighting over the position of team captain on the Rockets basketball team. Jay was elected by his team to be the team captain.

 

Colin is a better basketball player than Jay but Jay has a better attitude. Jay does not focus on himself as a team captain he focuses on what is happening to his team. Jay was picked by his team for the job of team captain because he is a leader. An example of his leadership is when Jay decides to see if the coach will let Colin be co-captain, because Colin had liked the idea of being co-captain and maybe he might have a better attitude if he is co-captain.

 

I am not really a sports book kinda guy but this one, I have to say, was good. It was a quick read, not hard. The book would pull me in I just wanted to read it for longer amounts of time. I would recommend this book to people who like basketball and good books. I would rate this book 4½.

 imgres

Jun
04
2014

100 Things Mets Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die

Posted by

by Freddie

 100 Things Mets Fans Should Know And do Before They Die by Matthew Silverman is all about the Mets, who are my favorite baseball team. For every two page there is a chapter about someone else, so there is not a main character. It is about the Mets heroes and how they were a big help to the Mets.

 

My favorite Mets player of all time, David Wright, is in there. He is their best third baseman of all time, With two Silver Sluggers and two Gold Gloves. A Silver Slugger is awarded to the best offensive player at each position. A Gold Glove is awarded to the best fielder in the NL and AL. He has been in seven all star games. The book tells you the most interesting facts about the Mets you’ll ever hear, like the Grand Slam Walk-Off, the year Tom Seaver got 25 wins and the horrible trade the Mets did to get rid of Tom Seaver. (For those of you who hate the Mets, it’s the opposite of the most interesting facts for you. It would be the worst. Except the  horrible trade I just told you about.)

 

I like that this book talks about the most famous plays of all time, like the grand slam single. The grand slam single was a walk off in the bottom of the ninth inning, game tied 3-3 and Robin Ventura  hit a grand slam for the walk off and got mobbed halfway to second base, so it was only a single. Later the MLB considered it as an RBI single since he never got to home  plate.

 

I would recommend this book to Mets fans. I would give this book 25 wins and 9 losses because that’s Tom Seaver’s record for the year he got 25 wins.

 

 

May
01
2014

Victor Cruz Out Of The Bluew, Victor Cruz and Peter Schrager

Posted by

imgresVictor Cruz Out Of The Blue by Peter Schrager and Victor Cruz is a Fantastic book because it gives you a good feeling and makes you love Victor Cruz.

This book is about Victor Cruz growing up to become a big NFL Star and his journey. He started in a small town and now is known world wide. He faces life changing problems and and struggled academically

I loved this book because as you know I want to play in the NBA. The chances are I’m probably not going to. But this book pretty much tells you that if you believe in something and you really want it you might actually get it. Although this book has a few things inappropriate for our age I think a lot of people should read it. Even if they don’t like sports you will learn to follow your dreams and just love Victor cruz.

Just to let you know not all fourth graders will like this book, but I hope you do.

I would rate this book 1,000 out of 5 because it is so inspiring and just a great overall book And all of you I hope will like it because it teaches you a lot of things such as,

This book is autobiography just to let you know.

 

Apr
30
2014

Kicks Saving The Team, By Alex Morgan

Posted by

My book was called Kicks Saving The Team, by Alex Morgan. This was the third 512RKosGidLbook in the series. The main characters names are Devin is one of the team captains. Zoe is one of Devin’s best friends in the book she has her baht mitzvah on the same day as the championship game, Emma another one of Devin’s best friends Emma is very clumsy, Jessi Devins best, best friend, And Frida, the actor another one of Devin’s friends. Devin is a very sporty and sensitive character. One scenario when she is sporty is when She makes the winning goal at a playoff game. That means she practises a lot! A sanrio when she is sensitive is when the school newspaper prints her quote wrong and half the team goes against her she has really hard feelings about that. Devin lives in Kentville California in the present.

 

In the book the school newspaper prints Devin’s quote wrong and half the team goes against Devin. They can not work together as a team. Two important events are when they have the championship game and when Coach Flores leaves and they are stuck with Coach Valentine. An important quote is “I Don’t know where I would be without my team” It’s important because the newspaper said it as “I don’t know where my team would be without me.” It also shows how much she cares. It also broke up the team which is a very important part of the book.

 

I enjoyed the book it was funny not to descriptive and has different paces depending on the time. I would recommend the book to girls who like books about friendship and sports. I would rate the book 9,0000000000000000000 out of 5 stars.

(Don’t read the book if you have not read the first two.)

Apr
30
2014

Out Of The Blue By Victor Cruz And Peter Schrager

Posted by

 

The main character of this book is Victor Cruz. Victor Cruz is a football player. Victor Cruz was a fighter. He’d never give up. It took him 5 tries to get his SAT’s high enough to get into UMass. The book also gives a lot of messages like don’t give up, keep trying. This book is also cool because you would think that it would be easy getting into the NFL yet it’s hard look at Victor Cruz. One of the NFL’s top wide receivers.

 

I enjoyed the book because Victor Cruz is a person who I like as a football player and I like to see how he came about. Victor Cruz’s main problem was that he couldn’t go to college because his SAT scores weren’t high enough. His other problem was that he wasn’t getting enough playing time when he was accepted. Therefore no scouts would be able to find him and like how he’s doing and he’ll end up undrafted. If there was one more chapter in the book I would talk about his next “cut day” and how for once he can feel confident that he’s going to make the team. You can also look at a player a different way. The most exciting quote in the book is when Victor’s wife says, “Vic, I’m pregnant.” It really changed how I look at Victor Cruz. Now I can look at him like a father. I never thought he was a father. And now I know he is.

 

I think this is a good autobiography/biography to start with if you’re a sports fan that isn’t interested in biographies because that was me when I started to read this book. If I didn’t like biographies when I started the book why did I start to read this book? Well, I saw Marlowe reading Out of the Blue and it looked good but I didn’t know that it was a biography and I ordered it online. Don’t you like how things work out like that sometimes?

 

I would give this book 5 out of 5 stars because it is written well and you don’t want to put it down because you get dragged into the book and it’s really interesting.  (Fun fact I sat at the couch reading this book over playing video games).

 images

Feb
26
2014

The Kicks Saving The Team, By Alex Morgan Olympic Gold Medalist

Posted by

The Kicks Saving The TUnknowneam by Alex Morgan, is about A girl named Devin who just moved from Pennsylvania and is really good at soccer and is worried about not making the soccer team. But then she meets Jessi who tells her the coach is very inclusive so everyone makes the team but she also hears the team is very bad! Then she becomes a co captain but the other co captain is the meanie and they lose a lot of games! Will devin save the team?

 

Devin is a really good student. At a point during the season Jessi is falling behind and she is not aloud to play on the team. But devin tutors her and she gets back on the team. But then they have their rivalry game and mirebel does something that makes things worse so with some new friends devin just might make a good start in a totally new place. Emma whose clumsy and zoe with stage fright and frida the actor devin might turn the team around!

two important parts about the book is when Devin Find solutions for all the players that is important because it helps their team win! And when devin gets voted team captain on her first day of school in a whole new state across the country from where she is from. That is important because  if she become team captin she would not have been able to help the team how she helped. something she said on the first day was: f Yeah, x is in how many friends i’ve made so far. X = none.”

I enjoyed the book because it had a lot of sports, and friendship problems I also liked how she stood up for herself but still really flexible and strong! I would recommend this book to people like freindship and sorts related and moveing schools and makeing things better by acomplishing things. I would rate this book five out of five stars!

Jan
29
2014

S.T.A.T. by Amar’E Stoudemire

Posted by

imgresI recommend the S.T.A.T. series if you like sports or adventure. it is an auto-biography. The books are about Amar’e Stoudemire, a player for the Knicks, and his life as a child. The main bump in the last book ,Most Valuable, Amar’e has to set up a tournament for a famous streetball player named omar tanner. The name of the tournament is The Classic.

 In the second book he almost loses his best friends,  Mike and Deuce. He also makes a new friend named James A.K.A.“Jammer”. Over his adventures many things happen. Read the series for more info. the reason I like it is because what I said befor, I like adventure and sports. I would rate this an 8 out of 10 stars.

Jan
07
2014

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack

Posted by

Athlete vs. Mathlete by  W.C. Mack

Review by Elijah Meltzer

Athlete vs. Mathlete is by W.C. Mack and is about two boys named Owen Evans, (“Basketball superstar, lights up the scoreboards”) and Russell Evans (“Brainiac powerhouse, lights up the school boards.”). This book takes place in Portland Oregon in about 2008. About

midway through the book Russell is forced by the new coach to play for the pioneers the school basketball team, because he is tall. He becomes a superstar and takes Owen’s place! Owen gets really mad and does some mean things. I enjoyed this book a lot because I could really sense what the characters were feeling.

My favorite part of the book was when Owen gives a play by play of his basketball games because I like basketball so I really get to know what is going on and how he is feeling.  For example, “When the ball was tossed, I went for it.  My fingers touched it first, and I pushed the ball toward Nicky Chu.  He caught it and pivoted fast before passing it to Nate James. Nate was the fastest guy on the pioneers, and made a breakaway, dribbling toward the basket. Right when he got to the hoop, he looked left then passed to me. As soon as I got the ball I lined up and took the shot. Swish!” (W.C. Mack, pg. 22-23).

 

I would recommend this book to people that like basketball, problem solving or friendship problems. Because all of those things come up a lot in this book.

 

I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars.

Dec
20
2013

The Million Dollar Throw, By Mike Lupica

Posted by

 

This is an amazing book by an amazing author.  It’s about a boy Named Nate ‘Brady’ Brodie.  He is an extreme patriots fan and his idol is Tom Brady.  He is an eighth grader, lives in Massachusetts and is on his school football team.  He a star QB. The one thing nate really understands and feels comfortable is; well, is football.  He has two best friends: Malcolm (for football and hard times) and Addy (for everything+football and hard times). Addy and Nate go to ‘sportsstuff’ (like Models but with a memorabilia section) and with all the money Nate has been saving up for years… he buys a ball signed by Tom Brady.  It cost 500$.  Then Addy saw a sign that was about a ‘Million Dollar throw’ that would have the winner sand at the 30 yard line and throw a ball into a 20’’ hole in a big ‘sportsstuff’ logo.  It would happen at the Pats stadium at the ‘Thanksgiving Day Game.’  The requirements were you need to be at least 13, make a purchase 500$, get his parents signature and the kids own.  Addy practically made him sign the contract.

 

Mike Lupica made this into a long story bye having every detail, stretched out sentences, and doesn’t have anything about the throw until a few chapters into the book.

When the throw is happening is 3 chapters until the book is over.  I would rate this book 6 out of 5 stars (yes, 6).

 

Mike Lupica has lots of suspense in his books and I highly recommend him to sports fans because he does overall excellent writing and has many books about many sports.