Center Field
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- £6.99
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- £6.99
Publisher Description
Mike has his junior year well under control. He's got a solid group of friends. He's dating Lori, one of the hottest girls in school. And Coach Cody has all but given him the starting spot as the Ridgedale Rangers' varsity center fielder. And then Oscar Ramirez shows up. Oscar is an amazing ballplayer, as talented at the plate as he is in center field, and it's not long before Mike loses control. He's on the bench, he's getting into fights, and he finds himself in weekend detention with Katherine Herold, the most mysterious, abrasive, alluring girl in school. Mike is lost, confused, and looking to Coach Cody to help him get back on track. But the coach has his own set of rules for Mike to play by, and the decisions Mike makes are going to impact more than just the starting lineup.
Robert Lipsyte, one of the most celebrated writers in young adult literature, has crafted a subtly intense tale of adolescent struggle, a sports story about much more than sports—one that shows us how the moves one makes off the field matter even more than the moves one has on it.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Lipsyte again shines light on the dark corners of high school jock culture, this time focusing on the corrupt adults who let kids make bad choices so long as the people in charge look good. Mike believes he s the starting centerfielder until a new kid, Oscar, shows up. Oscar s past is murky, but his skills are evident. Is he really a high school age transfer student? Anxious about becoming a benchwarmer, Mike shoves a nerdy kid who is annoying him, resulting in weekend community service helping the school s Cyber Club. These eye-opening sessions reveal that the maniacal baseball coach, who also serves as the school s dean of discipline, either has something of his own to hide or serious control issues. Mike wrestles with increasingly hard choices should he please the coach by delivering dirt on his Cyber Club buds (including the foxy but tortured Katherine), or maintain his integrity and lose a chance at a baseball scholarship? Though this one doesn t pack the wallop of Raiders Night (2006), Lipsyte delivers another thoughtful, entertaining sports drama. Ages 12 up.
