Rivals (Baseball Great Series #2)

by Tim Green

Overview

Cooperstown! Josh is thrilled when all his hard training pays off in a big way and his team, the Titans, makes it to a national tournament in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. More is on the line for Josh than just a trophy. Winning would mean everything to his dad—now Josh's coach. Winning could mean a major endorsement deal for the Titans and the attention of big league scouts!

After a dirty play and a brutal injury threaten to sideline Josh, he spies suspicious activity at the tournament. He tries to tell his good friend Jaden about what he's seen, but she's too busy spending time with the L.A. Comets' star player, Mickey Mullen Jr., to want to get involved. Jaden says she's doing research for the newspaper . . . but is she? Now Josh has a rival—both on the field and off—as he swings for the fences in a game that quickly becomes more dangerous.

New York Times bestselling author Tim Green delivers a hard-hitting look at what some teams will do to win in this gripping companion to Baseball Great.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780061626944
Publisher:	HarperCollins
Publication date:	02/22/2011
Series:	Baseball Great Series , #2
Pages:	288
Sales rank:	24,271
Product dimensions:	5.10(w) x 7.50(h) x 0.70(d)
Lexile:	860L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 12 Years

About the Author

Tim Green played Little League baseball for many years before specializing in football. After graduating as covaledictorian from Syracuse University, he was a first-round draft pick and played as a star defensive end for the Atlanta Falcons for eight years. He earned his law degree with honors and has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and an NFL commentator for NPR.

When his sons began to play baseball, Tim drew on his early love of the game to coach their teams. His exciting books for young readers include the New York Times bestselling Unstoppable, Baseball Great, Rivals, and Best of the Best. He has also written the novels Football Genius, Football Champ, and The Big Time, starring Troy White, and Football Hero, starring Ty Lewis. Troy and Ty meet in Tim's exciting Football Genius novel Deep Zone.

Tim Green lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York.

Editorial Reviews

Josh, the amazingly gifted baseball player introduced in Baseball Great (2009), finds new intrigue. This time, a retired Major League player turned actor is flamboyantly supporting his son, the pitcher on a rival team. Right from the beginning, Green makes plain the mishaps and pain that are involved in serious dedication to a sport. Cheating, once again, is the focus, with Josh's daring, Benji's humorous brash talk and Jaden's journalistic dedication all combining to uncover the wrongdoing. Although this is not an especially difficult plot to understand, there is yet a complexity of interconnecting factors that draws the reader in, along with some Hollywood-type glitz and folderol. Some little-known aspects of the sport are shown, but the focus is less on the actual games than on the off-the-field activities and influences. Not much of the plot is realistic, and peripheral characters are stereotypes. Dedicated fans who delight in the details will appreciate the sleuthing, but many will long for more play-by-play time. (Mystery. 11-15)

Kirkus Reviews

Home-run hitting Josh, his wise-cracking buddy, Benji, and the rest of the Titan baseball team are on their way to Cooperstown after beating the Nighthawks and their ace pitcher. Josh is injured in the game, but he is determined to get better and play in the Cooperstown tournament. Winning the tournament could mean earning a major endorsement for the team. When Josh's friend, Jaden, a student reporter, learns that the Los Angeles Comets will be in Cooperstown with their star player Mickey Mullen Jr. and his famous former major league father, Jaden wants to get a story for the local newspaper. When Jaden begins spending more time with the Mullens than with Josh and Benji, the boys begin to wonder what she is really doing. Josh cannot help but feel a bit jealous as well. As both the Titans and the Comets continue winning in the tournament, it begins to look like a final showdown between the two teams is imminent. While Josh and Benji watch a Comets game, they begin to suspect that an umpire is getting paid to make calls in favor of the Comets. The boys set out to prove they are right and to expose the umpire and the people responsible for paying him. With Jaden's help, they develop a risky plan which puts all their lives in danger, but which ultimately leads to the truth just before the final tournament game. Baseball fans will love the fast pace of the novel as well as the detailed descriptions of the Titan ball games. Reviewer: Jody Little

Children's Literature - Jody Little

Gr 5–8—In this sequel to the author's popular Baseball Great (HarperCollins, 2009), 12-year-old Josh LeBlanc has his hands full as he tries to lead his team to victory in the Hall of Fame National Championship Tournament. As a consequence of being purposely beaned in an early-round game, he has to have eye surgery; he is briefly detained after sneaking into the Hall of Fame with his buddy Benji; he thinks he's losing his sort-of girlfriend to the handsome son of a former major league star; and he is interviewed on national TV by legendary announcer Bob Costas. He uncovers a plot on the part of the former major leaguer to fix the games in the tournament and makes an escape by motorboat from a crooked, shotgun-wielding umpire, all the while performing on the field at a nearly superhuman level. There is certainly a lot going on, not all of it entirely plausible, but everything is handled with a light, deft touch. A highlight of the book is the banter between Josh and Benji, much of which is genuinely hilarious. Real baseball aficionados will appreciate the treatment of some of the more subtle nuances of the game. Enjoyable, unpretentious escapism for youngsters, especially reluctant readers.—Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT

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