Double Reverse

Jesse is on the freshman football team, and they are struggling to find a good quarterback. Jesse thinks he knows the plays and would work hard, but he doesn’t feel he LOOKS like a quarterback. His brother Jay, who is off playing at Dartmouth, is the quarterback in the family, but he finds that there are lots of good players at college and he is not chosen for this prime role. Jesse is, however, and is successful at it, but the team still needs a good kicker. They find one in Savannah, a soccer player who is the object of a small crush. She ends up being great, and Jesse even manages to write a play so that she can do more than kick to help out the team. Historical notes at the end discuss players who didn’t look like they would be successful but were, as well as the small gains that girls have made in playing football.

Bowen does fantastic sports books. Short, interesting, NOT in huge long series, and involving some historical aspect of the sport. I loved the fact that both high school and college football were discussed. Need to make sure I have ALL the Fred Bown titles for the start of the school year. He is definitely the new Matt Christopher.