Players [Hardcover]

Joyce Sweeney (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 2000

Corey is a senior and the captain of his high school basketball team. He and his team have played together for years, and they finally have a shot at winning the All-City Championship. They just need to fill one position to complete their second-string lineup. Noah is chosen for the spot. He's a newcomer to St. Philip's High and a top player at his old school. Corey is impressed by Noah's skills, but Corey's best friend, Luke, is suspicious. Noah is ambitious - dangerously ambitious. And after Noah meets Corey's girlfriend, Franny, it looks like he might be planning to score more than just game points. Corey knows that without cohesiveness his team can't win the all-city trophy. As captain, he struggles to deal with Noah's divisiveness and keep the team together and poised for victory. At the same time, as a friend, he tries to balance his loyalty to Luke, his mixed feelings toward Franny, and his desire to be fair to Noah. As the action heats up, Corey realizes that evil can be disguised as good, and he learns a difficult lesson about the difference between trust and naivete.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sweeney (Shadow; The Spirit Window) explores the disastrous effects of competitiveness gone too far in this suspenseful story about a high school basketball team. Corey, from whose point of view the novel is told, plus three other returning starters hope to win for the St. Philips Badgers an All-City Championship. But when transfer student Noah Travers is added to the roster, he throws the team off balance. Although Noah's athletic skills are impressive, he runs a one-man show on court. His hot-dogger antics breed resentment among players, who soon blame Noah for mysterious misfortunes such as starting center Luke's fainting spell before the first game, another key player's sudden decision to quit the team and the discovery of a gun in Luke's locker. As team captain, Corey must play referee off court as he tries to quell the rising tensions and give Noah a fair shot at proving himself. Sometimes the plot and the pop-psychology passages go overboard (as when Corey's sister tells him, "We need to grow up, Corey. We need to face the idea that there is bad in this world") and readers less gullible than Corey will pick up on clues the protagonist misses. Nonetheless, they will stay on the edge of their seats waiting to find out how far Noah's scheming will take him. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From School Library Journal

Grade 8-10-High school senior Corey Brennan is looking forward to the start of a new basketball season, with the hope that his Catholic high school will have a shot at the Miami all-city trophy. As captain, Corey thinks of himself as the leader of the team, but he finds that things start unraveling as soon as the season starts. After a lot of detective work, Corey discovers that the problem is a transfer student, Noah Travers, who will stop at nothing to make the starting squad. His unbridled ambition leads him to blackmail, tampering with a player's medications, and planting a gun in a teammate's locker. Eventually, Corey tricks him into admitting his crimes. The novel ends with one last act of revenge, but Noah is foiled in these efforts as well. He is a deliciously nasty villain, with no redeemable qualities, and he provides plenty of over-the-top melodrama that many teen readers seem to crave. On the other hand, the portrait of Corey is more complex and subtle. He's a good but hardly perfect kid, trying to do his best as he confronts genuine evil for the first time in his life. Basketball fans may be disappointed that there isn't more on-the-court action, but the book scores as a fast-paced story of the unmasking of a sociopath.
Todd Morning, Schaumburg Township Public Library, IL
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Hardcover: 225 pages
• Publisher: Winslow Pr; 1st edition (October 30, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1890817546
• ISBN-13: 978-1890817541
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.9 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,983,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ballers, November 12, 2000

By 

Christian Sautter (Fort Lauderdale, FL) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Players (Hardcover)

Joyce Sweeney depicts perfectly the lives of 5 young, talented, athletic boys. They all have a goal; the All-City Championship. I play and enjoy basketball very much, and I like to read books about how to get better, biographies on players, and just books in general about basketball. This book was by far the most captivating and most enjoyable one to read. Players was so interesting and so real, I was drawn in and couldn't put it down. I would stay up late during weeknights and read. I've NEVER done that before. It even has adventure in it! Some of the parts were so thrilling I even got goosebumps. If you want a GREAT book about basketball, choices, life, and relationships, this is your book. I think I'll even read it one more time and experience it all over again!!

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You don't have to be a basketball fan . . ., October 6, 2000

By 

"alexwriter" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Players (Hardcover)

. . . to enjoy this book. But if you are one, you'll like it even better. When Noah, a transfer from another school, tries out for the Corey's school team, he seems like a dream come true -- a high scorer to complete the roster and help them win the championship. But Corey's best friend, Luke, suspects there's more to Noah than that. And by the time Corey begins to realize that Luke may be right, it may be too late to save the team . . . and Luke. Diabolical Noah is a great character -- just when you think he couldn't be any more horrible, he tops himself! But just as important are the relationships between the team members. And readers will find sinister plots, setups, and car chases enough to keep them turning pages until it's over. I read it in one night! Bet you will too. Also, check out Sweeney's Free Fall, for the same kind of exciting story.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Players, December 13, 2005

By 

Salinger "Steve" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Players (Paperback)

Players Book Review

Players written by Joyce Sweeney, is an awesome book to read for all ages. Sweeney uses the innocence of a high school basketball team to show how one person's evil can destroy many lives if that person is not stopped. The themes of deceit, mistrust, and extreme competitiveness are recurrent throughout the novel.

Many high school players want to be the best in their sport. They always want the spotlight to be on them. In Players, one of the main characters, Noah, is way too competitive. For example, Noah goes to great lengths to get a couple people off of his new basketball team just so he could have a starting position at his new school. The quote "You found out he was [gay]" (186) was said by Corey, another member of the team. Noah found out one of the starters on the team was gay so he blackmailed him. He told him if he didn't quit the team that he would tell everyone. In addition, Noah plants a gun in Luke's locker so Luke would get suspended and he could have the starting center spot on the team. Noah has a chronic lying disorder that is caused by his competitive nature. This eventually catches up to him. If Corey had just sat back and not done anything to stop this madman, Noah would have gotten away with this and ruined many lives. It is good to want the spotlight and to want to be the best, but tearing others down to build yourself up is never the right thing to do.

During the time Noah is running around making everyone's life miserable, he is actually really nice to the people he is using. For example, Noah secretly becomes good friends with Corey's sister on the internet. He tricks "Renee" into thinking he is some goth freak which Renee happens to like. At the end of the novel Noah uses this trust he has with Renee to kidnap her and almost kill her. This causes her to have to go through therapy because of her "too trustful" attitude. It is a nice gesture to be nice to someone you don't know, but trusting them before you really know them can be a bad decision. In addition, Corey is also tricked by Noah. Noah gives Corey some pills before there first basketball game to give to Luke. Luke's neck is hurting. Corey, not even knowing Noah at the time, gives Luke the pills and thinks nothing of it. Luke faints during the first period. Corey's trust is misplaced when he does this. Corey knows that Noah really wants Luke's position, but doesn't think twice about giving him the pills. Being overly trustful to a new friend can be a dangerous thing.

Anyone can relate to this novel because of the competitive nature in our youth and because everyone has trusted someone they shouldn't have. Everyone knows the old cliché "you can't judge a book by its cover". Noah put on a good act, but was eventually discovered. Finally, the novel shows how if we are not in control of our competitiveness, it can lead to harmful things.