A review by shighley
Game Changers (Game Changers #1) by Mike Lupica
2.0
I came very close to stopping this book, but I didn't have another one in the car at the time. Talk about stereotypical: nice boy who's a little smaller than others, a former NFL quarterback who wants his son to be a quarterback (but of course, the son doesn't want to be the quarterback but is afraid to tell his dad), a group of boys who are friends--but, wait, there is one girl who is smarter than they are--the team has to come from behind to win.... Yup, that pretty much describes this book. At one point, I thought it was going to get a little more interesting and original, but then it went back on autopilot. I want more creativity for my students. I found the come-from-behind wins monotonous, much of the writing very trite and cliched. "In that moment, Shawn became a ram". The final game was so syrupy my teeth hurt.
At one point, my interest was piqued a bit when Shawn (son of former NFL quarterback) has his own football field in his back yard, complete with a robot to play receiver. When Ben (the undersized kid, who, yes, eventually does get to play quarterback) drops a pass or two and starts to act immature himself, I thought it was a way for him to better understand the poor sport Shawn. Then he became perfect again and Shawn went back to being a huge jerk, even though his dad wasn't that bad.
The narrator at times sounds like a bad impression on Saturday Night Live, especially when doing voices for some of the adults and other kids who are thrown in to make the book seem diverse. Above all, these kids are supposed to be 11. I can tell you, this is not how 11 year olds act, and their game plays are not executed so close as to look like they are that well planned. Ben is almost perfect, way too perfect. At least the coach/former NFL player is not the caricature jerk I expected.
Sure, I have this in our library at school, and kids will like it, but they can do better. Lupica was much better in books like Heat, which was more original and thought-provoking. Even Travel Team was more enjoyable. I am a big sports fan myself, but this was not that interesting.
At one point, my interest was piqued a bit when Shawn (son of former NFL quarterback) has his own football field in his back yard, complete with a robot to play receiver. When Ben (the undersized kid, who, yes, eventually does get to play quarterback) drops a pass or two and starts to act immature himself, I thought it was a way for him to better understand the poor sport Shawn. Then he became perfect again and Shawn went back to being a huge jerk, even though his dad wasn't that bad.
The narrator at times sounds like a bad impression on Saturday Night Live, especially when doing voices for some of the adults and other kids who are thrown in to make the book seem diverse. Above all, these kids are supposed to be 11. I can tell you, this is not how 11 year olds act, and their game plays are not executed so close as to look like they are that well planned. Ben is almost perfect, way too perfect. At least the coach/former NFL player is not the caricature jerk I expected.
Sure, I have this in our library at school, and kids will like it, but they can do better. Lupica was much better in books like Heat, which was more original and thought-provoking. Even Travel Team was more enjoyable. I am a big sports fan myself, but this was not that interesting.