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Summary
Summary
New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica scores a touchdown with his new middle-grade sports series!
Still living large off their incredible football championship win just weeks before, Ben McBain and his crew must now prepare for basketball season. Ben is known as the best point guard in the league. And now that Shawn O'Brien has joined their team, they are a shoe-in to win it all.
But there is another new kid in town, Chase Braggs, a point guard like Ben who seems to be better, stronger, and faster. Refusing to let his team down, Ben hits the courts hard to practice.
But with Ben not around his best friend Lily has been hanging out with Chase and she thinks he's a cool guy. Ben's frustration with Chase is starting to affect his relationship with Lily. Will Ben be able to pull it together for his team and for himself?
Author Notes
Michael Lupica (born on May 11, 1952 in Oneida, New York) is an American newspaper columnist. At the age of 23, Lupica began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post. In 1977, he became the youngest columnist ever at a New York newspaper when he started working for the New York Daily News. He has also written for numerous magazines during his career including Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. In 2003, he received the Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation. He has been a television anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters and hosted his own program The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2.
Lupica has written both fiction and non-fiction books. His novels include Dead Air; Limited Partner; Jump; Full Court Press; Red Zone; Too Far; Wild Pitch; and Bump and Run. He also writes the Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids series. He co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells and collaborated with William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year. His other non-fiction works include The Summer of '98; Mad as Hell: How Sports Got Away from the Fans and How We Get It Back; and Shooting from the Lip.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Horn Book Review
Floating high from their football championship (Game Changers), Ben McBain and his middle-school teammates prepare for their basketball season. Ben soon becomes distracted by the team's new point guard, Chase. The rivalry pushes them beyond sportsmanship and challenges Ben's own friendships, including the attention of Lily, "the coolest eleven-year-old girl on the planet." The story balances realistic character development with exciting on-the-court action. (c) Copyright 2013. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Kirkus Review
Ben McBain and his friends are still celebrating their incredible football championship season (Game Changers, 2012) when the time arrives to prepare for basketball. As always, Ben is the heart and soul of his team and looks forward to maintaining their athletic success. A preseason scrimmage with a rival team introduces a new challenge: Chase Braggs, a talented player with an attitude that seems from the beginning to be directed at Ben. Before he realizes it, Ben has let Chase get under his skin and turned from his love of excellence for its own sake to proving he can outdo the brash newcomer. Ben's relentless pursuit of victory results in a serious injury to his friend Sam that will be a tough blow to their team. As if that isn't enough, Chase seems to be making inroads in a friendship with Lily, someone who has always been an important presence in Ben's otherwise sports-dominated life. Like the first in the series, this volume provides an action-packed look at middle school sports as it explores issues of friendship, problem solving and coming-of-age. Once again, the adults provide guidance in supportive roles, but the kid characters, especially Ben, demonstrate the ability of younger teens to learn from their experiences. A reconciliation between Ben and Chase doesn't quite ring true, but this is a slight quibble in an otherwise satisfying read. Sports fans will eat it up. (Fiction. 8-12)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Booklist Review
Back from his game-winning touchdown pass in the championship football game, sixth-grader Ben McBain returns with buddies Sam, Coop, Lily, and new addition Shawn at the start of the basketball season. In a fresh twist to the standard sports formula, their team fails to make the championship basketball game, and Ben wrestles with personal shortcomings as he deals with an obnoxious but talented opposing point guard who has his eye on Lily. With plenty of well-paced game action and an attractive cast of characters, this second in the Game Changers series is as satisfying as a three-point shot from the corner.--Perkins, Linda Copyright 2010 Booklist
Excerpts
Excerpts
From GAME CHANGERS #2: PLAY MAKERS "Well, I hope I can do that when you're playing your hardest," Chase Braggs said, and then said he'd see Ben when they played the next Saturday in Rockwell. There was a ball just sitting there on the floor, just outside the three-point line. As Chase walked across to where his coach was waiting for him, he casually scooped up the ball, turned and squared up and fired one last shot that hit nothing but net, like it was as easy as making a layup. Then he wagged his finger one more time the way he had in the game, kept walking. Not even chasing after the ball, as if he knew somebody else would go pick it up later. Just turning and giving Ben one last wave, not to say good-bye, Ben knew, just to make sure that Ben had been watching. Ben stood there and watched as Chase, hair almost as red as the red uniform he was wearing, got one last high five for the day, this one from his coach. Ben feeling as if Chase had made one last shot on him, and thinking: I was playing my hardest. Excerpted from Play Makers by Mike Lupica All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
