It sounded like a squeak, so I cleared my throat and tried again. And it was all muscle.īefore I could say anything, I heard Chris breathing next to me. He wanted us to try out for our own team. I only knew three facts about our new coach:ģ. I rolled my eyes, turned the knob, and swung the door open. Uh … He took a couple of steps away from me.
You coming? I asked Chris, hoping I had backup. Talk to the coach, I said, knocking on his door.Ĭome in, a deep voice boomed from inside the office. Next Wednesday afternoon, Chris said, then pointed at the word as he read it. We were undefeated in sixth grade (if you didn’t count our five losses, which I didn’t because the refs had been out to get us), and we’d been shooting hoops at Sunset Park all summer to stay on top of our game. Unbelievable, I muttered, staring at the sign-up sheet on our new coach’s office door.Ĭhris, the rest of the guys, and I had been playing together since Cotter Elementary. (Feb.Seventh-grade basketball started out all wrong, and it only got worse. Offering an honest and funny representation of sibling rivalry and peer pressure, this contemporary tale, told from the boys’ alternating points of view, ought to find a large fan base.
Meanwhile, Owen resents the attention Russell gets as he crosses into sports territory (“Even though I knew it wouldn’t be a big deal to anyone else, I hated that Russ suddenly had the cool shoes and the awesome jump shot”). Although Russell shows an uncanny talent for making three-pointers, his dribbling skills are sorely lacking, and basketball practice interferes with his responsibilities as leader of his academic competition group. No one is more shocked than Russell when he makes the cut, along with Owen, but his victory precipitates a flurry of conflicts for both boys. The boys are content with their respective roles until the new school basketball coach, impressed by Russell’s height, invites him to try out for the team. In this series opener, Mack (After All, You’re Callie Boone) introduces athletic seventh-grader Owen and his klutzy, academic-minded fraternal twin, Russell.
0 kommentar(er)
