Throwing Heat (Fred Bowen Sports Story Series) - Softcover

Bowen, Fred

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1561455407 ISBN 13: 9781561455409

Publisher: Peachtree, 2010

Synopsis

Jack has a sizzling fastball, but does he have what it takes to pitch his team to victory?
Last season, Jack’s could always rely on his fast pitches to strike out his opponents. But now he’s playing in a new league where the distance to the catcher’s mitt is a lot greater, and he can’t get seem to get into the strike zone. Then Finn, a baseball coach at a local college, shows Jack some new pitches and tells him about Steve Dalkowski who never made it out of the minor leagues because he wouldn’t throw other pitches. At first Jack doesn’t listen to the coach’s advice, but with the season on the line, he realizes that Finn was right. Is it too late to change his game plan?
Author Fred Bowen continues his Sports Story series with play-by-play action that’s sure to keep readers on the edge of their seats! An afterword provides the real stories of pitching phenomes Steve Dalkowski and Sandy Koufax and their Major League Baseball careers.

About this title

About the Author

Fred Bowen is the author of Peachtree’s popular Fred Bowen Sports Story series. A lifelong sports fanatic, he has coached youth league baseball, basketball, and soccer. His kids’ sports column “The Score” appears each week in the KidsPost section of the Washington Post. Bowen lives in Maryland.

From School Library Journal

Gr 5-8–This is a quick, easy read with no aspirations beyond what it is: a traditional middle school sports novel. Eighth-grader Jack Lerner is proud of his 75-mph fastball, but has trouble controlling it. When his sister's new boyfriend, a part-time college pitching coach, tells him to take something off his fastball and concentrate on spotting his pitches, Jack is initially resistant, but eventually comes to see the wisdom of the advice. A subplot having to do with a Ping-Pong tournament in which Jack and his friends are involved reiterates the theme that success in sports is more about refining your skills than overpowering your opponents. No overarching social issues are touched upon, and character development is minimal, but sports-minded readers should find the brisk pacing and simple vocabulary to their liking. As in other books in the series, a “Real Story” afterword describes how pro athletes dealt with issues similar to those faced by the characters in the book.Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
© Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Edition details

• Publisher: Peachtree
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 1561455407
• ISBN 13: 9781561455409
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 128