Pop

Pop by Gordon Korman, narrated by Nick Podehl. Brilliance Audio, 2009

I think Pop is possibly Gordon Korman's best book yet.

I found the novel compelling and heartfelt.  His story includes some elements that are standard fare in high school football stories: the beautiful cheerleader, the handsome quarterback(s), the after-the-game-parties and the fierce and crusty football coach.  Korman takes the tale in a different direction though.  The title has multiple meanings. The word "pop" plays as a sound, a feeling, a verb, a noun meaning father, and a nickname.

I live in a town where one of the local high schools has repeatedly won the state football championship (5A) so I have seen the pride and can imagine the closeness of the team.  

Newcomer Marcus just wants to play football. He practices alone, every day in the park, preparing for try-outs. One day he meets Charlie, a guy old enough to be his father but with the ability to catch passes and throw them like a pro. They meet daily to practice throughout the summer although Charlie's behavior is odd and even erratic at times.   Marcus is good and the daily workouts with Charlie are making him even better.  Marcus comes to crave "the pop" of the hits.  Football is a team sport though and breaking-in to the tight-knit group that played a perfect season the year before, is not easy.  Troy, the QB resents him, especially when his ex, Alyssa shows in interest in Marcus. 

The mystery of Charlie's identity is tipped to the reader and Korman builds some nice tension between the characters and the reader as we all realize what is going on.  Korman does a great job of showcasing the game plans, the plays, the hard pops and the camaraderie of the team.   He also layers on the poignancy and tragedy of family situations that no one should have to endure.  Marcus and Troy have more in common than they know. 

Nick Podehl's audiobook 's narration was excellent.  I stayed up very late listening to him.  I think this is a must read for football players of all ages. The story offers some things to ponder before putting on the pads.

NonFiction Monday: Young Pelé

Biography







Young Pelé: soccer's first star by Lesa Cline-Ransome, paintings by James E. Ransome; Schwartz & Wade Books, 2007

James Ransome's illustrations shine in this picture book biography of Edson do Nascimento, who would be known to the world as Pelé. Using the greens, yellows and blues of the Brazilian flag Ransome paints glowing scenes of Edson's school, family and soccer life.

Edson struggled in school and his first soccer ball was "a sock stuffed with rags, rolled up and tied with string." His inability to focus in class resulted in reprimands and punishments but soccer was always foremost in his mind. His team, the Shoeless Ones, became a force in the city's soccer leagues. His nickname, Pelé, was bestowed at this young age.

The author describes the work ethic of the team; they sold peanuts and shined shoes to earn money for uniforms. The reader is reminded that talent also requires practice, drills, coaching and teamwork to suceed.

There is much here for the young soccer enthusiast to enjoy. Pelé traps, heads, dribbles and boots the ball across the pages. The creators of this biography score, indeed.

Author: Mike Lupica

Short feature on sportswriter/YA-children's fiction writer, Mike Lupica from The Morning Call.com.

I liked this summary paragraph about his books:

Lupica sees the ugliness of sports every day. He has written about baseball's steroid scandals and the greed present in all sports. But as a parent and veteran of countless youth league games where kids pour their hearts out just because they love to play, he still believes in the importance of sports. ''These books are about the pure aspect of sports -- about loyalty and friendship and picking yourself up,'' he says.

Author: Mike Lupica

Nice profile on author, Mike Lupica.

Although Mike still writes his popular sports column, and is a regular on ESPN’s “The Sports Reporters,” he says writing for young readers is his new favorite job. “This is the greatest writing adventure of my life,” Mike said. Does Mike have any advice for young readers? Of course, after all, he’s a dad and a coach. So here it is: Whether you’re taking about basketball or writing, Mike said, “Don’t let anybody limit your dreams, because nobody limited mine.”

I was talking to a friend yesterday who was telling me how much his son loves Lupica's books. He had to make his son return Heat to the school library so they could get his year-end report card.

Author: Mike Lupica

Matt Lauer interviews Mike Lupica at Live From Studio 1A about his new book, Summer Ball, the sequel to Travel Team.

Lupica talks about sports and life and his characters. His aim to demonstrate that "anybody can get knocked down, that's easy, but it is how you pick yourself up" that is important. He says he never gives his kids (characters) more than they can handle.

Summer Ball is one of the books at the top of my TBR pile right now.

Update: The MSNBC website seems to be experiencing some problems right now. I hope these links work. The interview is great.

What Athletes are Made Of

What Athletes are Made Of by Hanoch Piven, 2006

This book shares "fun facts" about 23 sports personalities. The portraits of each athlete in this collection are created with a collage of toys, objects and illustration. Piven's book is equal parts nonfiction and "I Spy" fun.

Using an odd assortment of objects, he accurately captures each athlete's appearance and comments on their personality and abilities. David Beckham, recently in the news, is captured with gold glitz hair, referee whistle eyes and a bottle of pink nail polish for a nose. The amazing assembly looks just like him. Interesting facts about the sports figures are included in the paragraph on the page and a "Did you know" fact crawl across the bottom.

Jackie Joyner-Kersee, of long jump fame, is created with hinged measuring sticks for arms and legs and "leap frog" toys as her feet. Joe DiMaggio is featured as a baseball card, his eyelids are Marilyn Monroe coin keepers and his eyes are a single rose bud. Baseball bats are his eyebrows and his mouth is a classic Greek column (class act, DiMaggio, never talked about his marriage to Monroe.)

Baseball, football, soccer, Olympic champions, Formula I, Nascar, and golf are all represented. One of my favorite portraits is Lance Armstrong, His nose is a bicycle seat, bike gears at the top of his head show the mental workout of the Tour de France (souvineer Tour Eiffel in the background) and a bike chain mirrors the lines on his forehead. His mouth is a "Live Strong" bracelet.

Words do not do the book justice. I can imagine showing this book to a class with an Elmo so they can all see the detail in each portrait. Educators are always looking for material to engage higher level thinking, right? Well, here you go.

Author: Mike Lupica

I read books all the time when I am running hither and yon but some books require my comfy chair and a cup of tea and a block of time to savor every word. I have a stack of these special books waiting patiently for me to finish sewing the apron for the entling's wench costume. (Madrigal Dinner will be over with this weekend. )

One of the books in this stack is Mike Lupica's new title, Miracle on 49th Street. Last night, just before I clicked off the TV, I dialed up The Colbert Report at precisely the moment when Colbert was introducing his guest, "Mike Lupica."

We are not ESPN people at this house so I've never seen Lupica on TV before. I am a real fan of Travel Team and Heat so I had to watch the interview. Of course, Lupica spent more time laughing than talking.

Colbert: "Now you're a sports writer.
Why children's books?
I'm against children's books in general because it implies children should be reading.
Why children's books? How did you make that leap?"

When Colbert did swerve briefly into questions about writing. the author was able to offer a brief story about Travel Team. The idea for the book came from his own experience of forming a team made up entirely of kids, including his son, who had been cut from the 7th grade team. Lupica continued about a time when that son went along with him to an appearance or book signing and sat in the audience. During the Q&A session the lad raised his hand and innocently asked about the royalties Lupica was earning from Travel Team and whether or not the son who had inspired the story was sharing the royalties.

Lupica managed to crack Colbert up a few times. That sense of humor comes through in his books too.