3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
RIVALS continues Green's captivating series with his familiar style, June 10, 2010
This review is from: Rivals: A Baseball Great Novel (Baseball Great Novels) (Hardcover)
One minute you're riding on the shoulders of your teammates after a great victory, and the next your eye has swollen shut from a dirty play during the championship game and threatens to keep you from playing baseball. That's the opening action from RIVALS, the latest offering by Tim Green in his well-written Baseball Great series for young readers. Josh LeBlanc and his team, the Syracuse Titans, are one game away from a spot on the cards at the annual youth baseball Hall of Fame Tournament in Cooperstown, New York. When he steps up to bat, Josh tries to imagine all the possible balls he could get (fastball, high ball, etc.). He wasn't prepared for the curve ball that hit him squarely in the face.
They win the game and the chance to play in the tournament, but Josh and his family are faced with a major medical decision because of the nasty cut he received from the wild ball that seemed intentionally thrown to remove Josh and the Titans from contention. The umpire, however, didn't call anything.
The doctor gives Josh two choices to protect his optic nerve: surgery that would leave a permanent scar, or rest for several weeks and no baseball. Resting would mean Josh could not play at Cooperstown and lose out on a chance to help his team win it all. The surgery would mean playing right away but living with the constant reminder every time he looks in the mirror. He and his dad think it's a no-brainer, but mom is against taking any risks with Josh's eyesight.
Still, as every baseball lover knows, Cooperstown is a slugger's mecca. It's the place you want to be because it's all about baseball. Playing there and getting to see the Baseball Hall of Fame are dreams come true for a teen player whose college chances are dependent on a baseball scholarship. The Cooperstown tournament seems to hold all the keys to Josh's future as a player, to say nothing about the fact that a major sports equipment manufacturer is looking at the Titans and considering an offer of a sweet sponsorship deal. Everything is riding on Josh playing and winning at Cooperstown. But at the moment, he can't see through his left eye.
RIVALS continues Green's captivating series with his familiar style that delivers a great sports story with writing that is easy to read but engaging because of his ability to create colorful characters. Green focuses on the action of the game while artistically penning some really nice images with similes and metaphors that make his work so enjoyable to read. For instance, he describes a private jet on the tarmac as looking "...like a white shark with wings," and a mass of groupies as "...people orbiting around him like he was the sun, even as he moved." The pictures he writes for readers' minds are brilliant and sometimes surprising in their comparisons. And the literary merits found in his previous baseball and football books are prominent in this new offering.
Josh goes to Cooperstown and comes face to face with understanding what rivalry means in sports and in his personal life. Then he stumbles onto a potential mystery when he witnesses what he thinks is a payoff to an umpire calling the Hall of Fame games. Baseball, relationships, and scandal all meld together as Josh finds out how a rivalry can make you deliver the best you have on and off the field.
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