Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer [Hardcover]

Thatcher Heldring (Author)

Book Description

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

TOBY WHEELER LOVES basketball and playing pickup games at the local rec center. No coaches, no practices, just nonstop action with his best friend, JJ, at his side. But lately JJ's been acting like he's too busy for Toby, and Toby knows it will only get worse once basketball season begins at their junior high. That's because JJ is the star of their school team, while Toby is just an ordinary gym rat.

When Coach Applewhite offers Toby a chance to join the team, Toby's eager to prove he can keep up with JJ. But then the coach announces the lineup, and Toby's hopes of playing ball with JJ are history: he's an eighthgrade benchwarmer! Befriending the coach's daughter only makes matters worse. Now the only way Toby will get in the game is if he starts thinking like a team player, on and off the court.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 4–7—Toby Wheeler is a self-professed gym rat-he plays basketball down at the rec center but has never played for his school. However, when he meets the new coach, Toby decides to try for the team. He becomes the 12th man—the last one ever sent in to a game—and resigns himself to being a benchwarmer. However, through Coach Applewhite's tutoring and the help of the other boys, Toby learns to be a real team player. A subplot concerns Toby's dad, who works for the local lumber company, and his mother, an ecological activist protesting the lumber company's practices. Overall, the story is engaging, but too predictable and lacking in depth. Standard sports themes dominate—the underdog team wins the championship in the final shot; the team's star realizes he has to play for himself, not to appease his father; and the new coach learns to trust his players. This novel will appeal to readers who are looking for something one step beyond Matt Christopher's books.—Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Eighth-grader Toby Wheeler is happy being a "gym-rat" playing pickup basketball games with his friends, so when the newly hired coach suggests he try out for the team, Toby is tempted. For one thing, it might bring him closer to his best friend, JJ, who is already a star. Lately, JJ has been ignoring Toby and treating him like a little kid. So Toby signs up, but the experience is not quite what he had in mind. Instead of being a player, he's the twelfth man, the benchwarmer. Moreover, his budding relationship with recent arrival Megan becomes bumpy when he finds out the coach is Megan's dad. This debut novel hits most of the right notes. Only the subplot about Toby's parents and the conflict between his job in the lumber industry and hers as a conservationist seems unwieldy; otherwise, there's plenty of basketball and the requisite amount of girl-boy interaction. With so much written about the friction between girl friends, it's good to have a book that acknowledges that left-out feeling happens to boys, too. Cooper, Ilene

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 9 and up
  
• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers (August 14, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385733909
• ISBN-13: 978-0385733908
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.8 x 8.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #876,116 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Courtesy of Teens Read Too, August 17, 2007

By 

TeensReadToo "Eat. Drink. Read. Be Merrier." (All Over the US & Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer (Hardcover)

Life is simple. Toby Wheeler is just a gym rat playing pickup ball at the rec center with his best buddy JJ. But, things seem different lately. JJ is spending more and more time with his new friends instead of Toby.

Determined to hang onto his buddy, Toby joins the school's basketball team at the encouragement of the new coach. Maybe this way, he'll get to see more of JJ, since he's a basketball star. But, it seems like the only person Toby is seeing more of is the coach's daughter, Megan.

Other players on the team are encouraging Toby to stay away from Coach's daughter if he wants to be anything but a benchwarmer. This seems like good advice, except that Megan is the only girl he can talk to without turning into a clumsy, awkward fool.

This debut novel will definitely score with its readers, as Toby is just the kind of clueless but lovable character that middle-schoolers are sure to identify with. He navigates everything from losing friends and figuring out how to deal with girls to relearning things he thought he already knew.

Basketball fans will get their fair share of trash talk when Toby faces off against his rival, Vinny Pesto, on the court and off. Toby may be clueless in some areas, but when the clock runs down, he knows it's time to take a shot.

Heldring's style is easy and fun to read. I look forward to more books by this fabulous new author!

Reviewed by: Julie M. Prince

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars funny and wise, December 23, 2007

By 

Oma Mater "Toby fan" (Seattle, WA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer (Hardcover)

First, disclosure: I know the author. In spite of this personal knowledge, I laugh aloud each time I pick up this book. He captures the angst and poignancy of early adolescence so well. I love that Toby did the right thing with the ball during the big game. A great group of fictional kids who can teach real ones how to help each other along the way.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Romance changes the bigger picture in this fine story of athletic challenges., November 4, 2007

By 

Midwest Book Review (Oregon, WI USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Toby Wheeler: Eighth-Grade Benchwarmer (Hardcover)

Toby Wheeler loves basketball and playing pickup games with his best friend TJ, but lately TJ's been acting like he's too busy for Toby, and it will once get worse once basketball season begins at their junior high, because TJ's the star of the team and Toby is nothing special at sports. When the coach offers Toby a chance to join the team he's eager to prove he can keep up with his friend - until he begins to realize he's just a benchwarmer not destined for fame. Romance changes the bigger picture in this fine story of athletic challenges.