Hot Hand (Comeback Kids) [Paperback]

Mike Lupica (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Comeback Kids

It?s simple. All Billy Raynor wants to do is shoot. After all, he is one of the best shooters in the league. But with his dad as his coach, and his parents newly separated, somehow everything?s become complicated. His brother Ben hardly talks anymore. His mom is always traveling on business. And his dad is always on his case about not being a team player. But when Ben?s piano recital falls on the same day as the championship game, it?s Billy who teaches his dad the meaning of being a team player.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Lupica (Miracle on 49th Street) again relays fast-paced basketball action in this involving first volume of the Comeback Kids series. The narrative moves equally sure-footedly off-court to explore the dynamics of 10-year-old Billy's family. His parents have recently separated, and his father, Joey, has moved to another house. Joey is also Billy's demanding, hot-headed basketball coach, constantly criticizing his son for shooting rather than passing during games. Billy's well-intentioned mother works long hours as a lawyer and travels frequently. Younger brother Ben, as passionate about the piano as Billy is about basketball, becomes increasingly withdrawn and, alarmingly, begins to skip piano lessons. Billy comes to Ben's rescue when a school bully picks on him, but resents feeling that his often-absent parents expect him to take care of his vulnerable brother. Tensions peak when Ben's piano recital and Billy's championship game occur at the same time; their mother is called out of town, and their father refuses to miss the game for Ben's recital. The resolution is pat, but pleasing—although not as pleasing as the sports writing. Lupica moves to the gridiron in the series' Two-Minute Drill, due the same month. These should score big with middle-graders looking for alternatives to Matt Christopher's titles.Ages 8-up. (Sept.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Mike Lupica writes a nationally syndicated column for New York’s The Daily News and is a regular on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters. He lives in Connecticut. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Puffin; Reprint edition (May 14, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0142414417
• ISBN-13: 978-0142414415
• Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #52,389 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #14 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Sports > Basketball
  • #16 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Sports > Football
  • #20 in Books > Children's Books > Sports & Games > Sports > Basketball

More About the Author

Mike Lupica is one of the most prominent sports writers in America. His longevity at the top of his field is based on his experience and insider's knowledge, coupled with a provocative presentation that takes an uncompromising look at the tumultuous world of professional sports. Today he is a syndicated columnist for the New York Daily News, which includes his popular "Shooting from the Lip" column, which appears every Sunday. He began his newspaper career covering the New York Knicks for the New York Post at age 23. He became the youngest columnist ever at a New York paper with the New York Daily News, which he joined in 1977. For more than 30 years, Lupica has added magazines, novels, sports biographies, other non-fiction books on sports, as well as television to his professional resume. For the past fifteen years, he has been a TV anchor for ESPN's The Sports Reporters. He also hosted his own program, The Mike Lupica Show on ESPN2. In 1987, Lupica launched "The Sporting Life" column in Esquire magazine. He has published articles in other magazines, including Sport, World Tennis, Tennis, Golf Digest, Playboy, Sports Illustrated, ESPN: The Magazine, Men's Journal and Parade. He has received numerous honors, including the 2003 Jim Murray Award from the National Football Foundation. Mike Lupica co-wrote autobiographies with Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, collaborated with noted author and screenwriter, William Goldman on Wait Till Next Year, and wrote 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, a collection of columns. In addition, he has written a number of novels, including Dead Air, Extra Credits, Limited Partner, Jump, Full Court Press, Red Zone, Too Far and national bestsellers Wild Pitch and Bump and Run. Dead Air was nominated for the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best First Mystery and became a CBS television move, "Money, Power, Murder" to which Lupica contributed the teleplay. Over the years he has been a regular on the CBS Morning News, Good Morning America and The MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour. On the radio, he has made frequent appearances on Imus in the Morning since the early 1980s. His previous young adult novels, Travel Team, Heat, Miracle on 49th Street, and the summer hit for 2007, Summer Ball, have shot up the New York Times bestseller list. Lupica is also what he describes as a "serial Little League coach," a youth basketball coach, and a soccer coach for his four children, three sons and a daughter. He and his family live in Connecticut.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars hot hand, March 31, 2009

By 

Victoria L. Morse - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Hot Hand: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids (Comeback Kids Series) (Hardcover)

Hi I am a student of Victoria the buyer of this book and my literacy teacher. If you are a teen kid who is in love with basketball or just likes it a lot then I recommend this book to you. This story takes place in a house and on and off the basketball court. The main character is Billy Raynor and his main conflict is that he is not a team player and seems like he just can't get along with his father on and off the court no matter how hard he tries. The coolest thing about my book is that the author doesn't just say Billy's team is winning; he puts more effort and details in it such as 30 secs. left in the 4th quarter with Billy's team winning by 4 the score is 50-47 and Billy's team has the ball. So if you think the review is good than you should see how good the book is!!!!!!!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A dad's review, March 18, 2009

By 

Steven "BookDads.com" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Hand: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids (Comeback Kids Series) (Hardcover)

Hot Hand: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids
Ten year old Billy Raynor only lives for one thing, and that's basketball. When he's on the basketball court with his buddy Lenny and his team the Magic, he's truly happy and it seems like all of his problems disappear. Or at least they would if Billy's dad wasn't also the team's head coach. Worse, Billy's parents have just separated and his dad has moved out of the house. And Billy's dad won't get off his back about his playing, insisting that Billy shoots too much and is trying too hard to be a sports hero instead of a team player. Both Billy and his father want to see the Magic go all the way to the championship this year, but even if the team makes it, will the two of them still be father and son when it's all over?

Billy's difficult relationship with his father takes center stage in this novel. Billy's dad is stubborn, opinionated, and has his own ideas about what Billy should and shouldn't do. He often doesn't listen to Billy, and clearly has his own problems to worry about as well. In short, he's the kind of dad we all can be sometimes. While Billy and his father are antagonists throughout the novel, Billy nevertheless still yearns to make him proud. Lupica's depiction of a difficult father and son relationship is quite realistic of their conflict while also avoiding demonizing either Billy or his father. He also portrays how children can often feel trapped within situations larger than themselves, especially those situations (like separation) that may never have a happy ending. The level of the text is appropriate for young readers, and this is an excellent book for a child (especially a boy) who loves basketball or sports, who is caught in the midst of his parents' separation or divorce, or who has a father who may sometimes ride him just a little too hard when trying to teach him important life lessons.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hoop-hoop-hoop!, July 25, 2008

By 

Bret Wright "In the end, what matters is that... (Colorado Springs, CO USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hot Hand: Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids (Hardcover)

As a Language Arts teacher, I am always searching for books that will get my young male charges into reading, especially those kids who think that athletes don't need to be able to read to succeed. Telling them this just doesn't work, but getting them to read things they can relate to does! Hot Hand is one of those books.

Billy Raynor is a ten year old basketball player. He's good, really good, but he has a problem: Basketball is a team sport. He's got another problem: His dad's the coach of his team. Oh, and he has a few more problems, too. His dad and mom are getting a divorce, his piano prodigy brother, Ben, is loosing interest in playing, his mom is never home, and the local bully won't leave Ben alone. On the plus side, Billy and his best friend, Lenny, have vowed that their Rec League team will go undefeated for the season, and it looks like they're going to make it.

Mr. Lupica has written a book that will hold a young boys attention, while imparting some important life lessons. The vocabulary is fairly easy, but the author seamlessly introduces important words and defines them throughout. The books characters aren't stereotyped the way they are in some of this genre's. Billy has real emotions, and Ben . . . ah, Ben. He's really taking things hard. The only person who is flat is Billy's sister, Emily. She's in high school, and all she does is talk. But it works because that's exactly what Billy's perception of her would be. The story isn't filled with stats and play-by-play, but there's enough to hold a young person's attention if that's what he's into.

Of course, this book will interest girls, too, there's no reason why it wouldn't, but the target audience is boys.

In short: this book is going into my classroom library. Nice job, Mr. Lupica.

bw
5/5
25 jul 2008