Football Weekly
Mike Lupica, Scholastic Inc, 2007, 180 pages
Character Description
1. Scott Parry. He is a football fan. He is also the main character.
2. Chris Conlan. He is Scott's friend and star of the football team.
3. Hank Parry. Scott's dad. He played football at college and is Scott's main influence.
4. Jimmy Dolan. A bully who calls Scott the "brain" and is also part of the football team.
5. Mr. Dolan. Originally a football player at Ohio State, he now coaches the football team.
Plot Summary
Scott Parry loves football. That's mainly because of his dad who played football at college. When he moves to his new school, everything changes. He meets Chris Conlan, star of the football team, who convinces Scott to sign up for football because of his kicking skills. He never plays though because of his coach's dislike for kickers. Later, he learns about Chris's problem with reading. If he doesn't get better at it, he will have to leave the football team. So his parents agree to let Scott help him. He improves rapidly so he can stay on the football team. The football team ends up being so good, they make it into the championship game. There is little scoring until near the end of the game when the other team takes a 2 point lead. Then Chris gets injured, and he convinces the coach to finally let Scott kick, and he ends up kicking a 3 point goal, so they end up winning because of him.
Conflict
Even though Scott loves football, he isn't very good at anything to do with it except for kicking. He has to find a way to get better.
Quote
"He knew he'd probably never leave the sidelines and do something to belong with these guys. And that was okay. It was still football."
I chose this quote because it described Scott's feelings about himself being on the football team. He didn't have much self-esteem.
Book Review
I honestly really liked reading this book, but sometimes I would have to reread things to fully understand it. It had a great plot to it. I would give it a 9/10.