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    The Only Game
    The Only Game
    The Only Game
    Audiobook6 hours

    The Only Game

    Written by Mike Lupica

    Narrated by Keith Nobbs

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Can a young baseball star maintain his love of the game after the loss of his brother? Find out in this start to the Home Team series about a small town with high hopes, from New York Times bestselling author and sportswriting legend Mike Lupica.

    Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and seventh grade is supposed to be his year. Undefeated season. Records shattered. Little League World Series. The works. That is, until he up and quits.

    Jack’s best friend Gus can’t understand how Jack could leave a game that means more to them than anything else. But Jack is done. It’s a year of change. Jack’s brother has passed away, and though his family and friends and the whole town of Walton thinks baseball is just the thing he needs to move on, Jack feels it’s anything but.

    In comes Cassie Bennett, star softball player, and the only person who seems to think Jack shouldn’t play if he doesn’t want to. As Jack and Cassie’s friendship deepens, their circle expands to include Teddy, a guy who’s been bullied because of his weight.

    Time spent with these new friends unlocks something within Jack, and with their help and the support of his family and his old friends, Jack discovers sometimes it’s more than just the love of the game that keeps us moving forward—and he might just be able to find his way back to The Only Game, after all.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSimon & Schuster Audio
    Release dateFeb 17, 2015
    ISBN9781442376434
    Author

    Mike Lupica

    Mike Lupica is the author of multiple bestselling books for young readers, including the Home Team series, QB 1, Heat, Travel Team, Million-Dollar Throw, and The Underdogs. He has carved out a niche as the sporting world’s finest storyteller. Mike lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children. When not writing novels, he writes for Daily News (New York) and is an award-winning sports commentator. You can visit Mike Lupica at MikeLupicaBooks.com.

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    • 5/5
      Most kids have a dream. Some want to be a firefighter or police officer when they grow up. Others want to be a famous singer or dancer. Some kids decide to become a doctor or teacher. Still others love sports. Twelve-year-old Jack Callahan lives for baseball. Cassie Bennett is a star softball player. They have big plans for their seventh-grade year. Life is not turning out the way they had expected, however.In THE ONLY GAME, a middle grade novel by New York Times Bestselling Author Mike Lupica, Jack has a secret. He should be leading his baseball team, the Rays, to the Little League World Series this year. Instead, he’s not even playing ball. What has happened in Jack’s life that’s horrible enough to make him give up his dream? No one understands, except Cassie.For me, the characters in a book make the story, and in THE ONLY GAME the author got the characters just right. When Jack faces a situation that’s tough even for an adult to accept, he deals with it the way he believes is right. He makes mistakes. Or does he? In Cassie, he finds a friend who doesn’t pity him, but gives him encouragement, in her own way. As much as I like Jack, Cassie is my favorite character. She has an attitude, but she supports Jack one hundred percent. There’s also Teddy that the other boys make fun of. When Jack sets out to help him face his fears, Jack learns to face his own, as well.THE ONLY GAME is a story of hope and giving your dreams your all. It’s a story of friendship and being at the right place at the right time. Mike Lupica has written about children that could be your neighbors or even your own children. About their dreams and the obstacles they face and how they overcome them. I recommend this novel for middle school classrooms and libraries as well as your own private library. Even adults will enjoy this novel.This is the first book in the author’s new HOME TEAM series. I’m looking forward to the second novel for young readers in my family.The publisher provided me with an ARC of this novel for my honest review.###