Sticks (Turtleback School & Library Binding Edition) [Library Binding]

Joan Bauer (Author)

Book Description

Age Level: 9 and up | Grade Level: 4 and up

FOR USE IN SCHOOLS AND LIBRARIES ONLY. With the help of his grandmother, his dead father's best friend, and his own best friend, and despite his mother's reservations, ten-year-old math genius Mickey prepares to compete in the most important pool championship of his life.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Breaking, bank shots, slices, and safeties—-fifth grader Mickey Vernon can shoot pool better than some guys twice his age. His philosophy is simple: "I think a lot of the world's problems could be solved by a couple of guys shooting a few racks down at the local hall." But sometimes that's hard to remember when he's facing down seventh-grade bully Buck Pender. Buck is determined to beat Mickey in the annual youth tournament down at Vernon's, the pool hall owned and operated by Mickey's grandma Poppy. And he just might do it, too. Except Mickey's got a secret weapon. Joseph Alvarez, a big rig trucker and family friend, has returned to town, and he was coached by the best pool player on the nine-ball professional circuit--Mickey's dad, who died shortly after Mickey was born. So with the help of Joseph and his two best friends, 10-year-old math genius Arlen and magician extraordinaire Francine, Mickey just might have a shot at the championship. Then Buck baits him into playing a game in which Mickey badly sprains his stick hand, just three short weeks before the tournament. Has Mickey just scratched the cue ball of his dreams?

Fun, folksy, and big-hearted, Joan Bauer's first novel for middle-grade readers is sweeter than a 90-degree bank shot off the rail and into the corner pocket. Mickey's unselfconscious and humorous narration ranks with that of Archie in How I Became a Writer and Oggie Learned to Drive by Janet Taylor Lisle or Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. (Ages 9 to 12) --Jennifer Hubert --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Publishers Weekly

A family-run pool hall in a blue-collar New Jersey town plays backdrop to Bauer's (Thwonk; Squashed) surprisingly sluggish novel. Mickey Vernon's the name of the determined 10-year-old protagonist and nine-ball is the game he intends to win in the annual youth pool tournament. After all, pool is in Mickey's blood?his long-dead father was a champion and his no-nonsense grandmother still owns and runs Vernon's Pool Hall, site of the approaching nine-ball showdown. But Mickey discovers it's going to take more than desire and talent to win. With coaching from his math-whiz best friend Arlen, as well as from Joseph Alvarez, a mysterious man from his father's past, Mickey just might have a shot at beating the likely champ, town bully Buck. Bauer attempts to stack her deck with potentially colorful characters, but Mickey lacks the emotional spark needed to engage an audience and his contrived world leaves readers feeling unfulfilled. Arlen's constant harping on the power of math in the game of pool verges on the preachy, while reservations about Alvarez prove a letdown in terms of dramatic payoff. Though the somewhat offbeat subject matter may be a draw for some middle graders, fans of the light humor and breezy style of Bauer's earlier works are likely to be disappointed. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Library Binding: 182 pages
• Publisher: Turtleback (June 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1417688084
• ISBN-13: 978-1417688081
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.8 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)

More About the Author

"I had moved from journalism to screenwriting when one of the biggest challenges of my life occurred. I was in a serious auto accident which injured my neck and back severely and required neurosurgery. It was a long road back to wholeness, but during that time I wrote Squashed, my first young adult novel. The humor in that story kept me going. Over the years, I have come to understand how deeply I need to laugh. It's like oxygen to me. My best times as a writer are when I'm working on a book and laughing while I'm writing. Then I know I've got something." Joan's first novel, Squashed, won the Delacorte Prize for a First Young Adult Novel. Five novels for young adult readers have followed: Thwonk, Sticks, Rules of the Road (LA Times Book Prize and Golden Kite), Backwater and Hope was Here (Newbery Honor Medal). Joan lives in Darien, CT with her husband and daughter.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Sticks, May 8, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Sticks (Paperback)

Sticks is a wonderful, heartwarming story about the struggles of a young boy becoming a young man. Mickey must confront internal conflicts created by the death of his father, a nationally recognized championship pool player. It is difficult for Mickey to live up to his father's reputation because everyone compares his pool game to his father's. Also, he faces external conflicts with his arch rival, the town bully, in a pool tournament. Just when things look bad for Mickey, a mysterous stranger arrives in town offering to help Mickey with his pool game. Is the stranger a former friend of his fathers? Read Sticks by Joan Bauer to find out.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sticks: A GREAT BOOK!!!!!!!!!!!!!, November 21, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: Sticks (Paperback)

Sticks by Joan Bauer is a great book! It is my favorite book in the world! It's about Mickey Vernon, a pool player, and how he wants to win the Pool Championship. When a former of Mickey's mom shows up, he offers to give Mickey a few pointers. Mom says no, she doesn't trust him. Then, when she says yes, Mickey is appoluded.

2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Mickey's Pool Hall, April 25, 2002

A Kid's Review

This review is from: Sticks PB (Paperback)

Hey! People if you want an exciting and extraordinarily funny, but realistic fiction story by the great author named Joan Bauer, I recommend the book Sticks. The 2 boys in the book are the main characters. Mickey Vernon is 10 has freckles, blisters on his finger sand Arlen Pepper has glasses, carries his calculator, and a protractor that why everyone called him the math wiz. He is very intelligent with any kind of math and science. Ever day Vernon always got beaten the big fat bully named Buck Pender.

Once in the pool hall of Cruckston, New Jersey [Where Mickey's family lived] when Mickey was young, he wanted to be the pool best player like his dad who had died. Arlen and Mickey are searching for secrets of pool. One day Vernon `s grandmother Poppy stuck up a poster that said," 10 to 13 Year Old Pool Tournament". Absolutely. Mickey was going to join, but he'll have to be much better in pool because Buck is joining, too. Days went by, but something strange happened at the pool hall. When Mickey is practicing pool a man with reddish beard came to Mickey and tells him that Mickey will win the tournament. The next morning day when Arlen and Mickey are walking Buck and his ugly friends came to block Mickey and Arlen from walking. The man from the pool hall came with his green truck and scared the bully off. One day that man came to the pool hall and talk to Ruthie [Mickey's Mother]. Mickey and his sister Camille were watching them as they talk. Then Ruthie introduce the man to Mickey and Camille who his name is Joseph Alveraz one of Mickey's dad best friends. Mickey rushed to him and asked him if he can teach him pool? He said, "Yes". Ruthie sigh and said, "Okay". They both together play Ping Pong and archery to make Mickey focus. Days went by until something bad happened. Joseph has to go to someplace away from New Jersey, before leaving he said not to play a single match with Buck. What do you know? Mickey didn't obeyed Joseph's command. He played a game with Buck and loses and other bad news Mickey broke his left arm because Buck slammed him on the floor. The doctor said it will cure in 3 weeks and real bad news that the day that the tournament is starting. Will our Mickey Vernon be able to practice only for a week to win the tournament? If you want to know, go ahead buy the book Sticks by Joan Bauer and you'll not be bored ever.