Shooting Star - Softcover

McKissack Jr., Fredrick L.

3.86

108 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1416997741 ISBN 13: 9781416997740

Publisher: Atheneum Books for Young Readers, 2010

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A natural-born athlete, Jomo Rogers has talent that is easy to spot on the football field, and reporters and college recruiters are taking notice. But the buzz is focused on his potential, on his promise, while Jomo is ready to become the “next big thing” now. And since natural talent can only take a player so far, Jomo supplements his abilities with tougher workouts, more weights, longer runs...and steroids.

An edgy and eloquent debut novel, Shooting Star brings sports headlines to life and shows how a young man’s drive can result in his downfall.

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About the Author:

Fredrick McKissack has nearly 20 years experience as a writer and an editor. His articles, op-eds, and reviews have been published in The Washington Post, Vibe Magazine, and others. He lives in Ft. Wayne, Ind. with his wife, Lisa and their son, Mark.

From School Library Journal:

Starred Review. Grade 8 Up—African-American Jomo Rodgers is a talented if somewhat undersized defensive back on his high school's football team. Overshadowed by Jayson Caldwell, his best friend and the team's star running back, Jomo, after much hesitation, decides to take the steroid route to fame, with tragic results for himself, his team, and those he loves. This is no simplistic "problem" novel—Jomo is a complex character whose ambitions are at war with his personal sense of morality. While the adults in his life are intelligent and caring, they seem too absorbed in their own issues to give him the guidance he needs. His father, a former college athlete and student activist who teaches African-American studies, is embittered by what he experienced and observed of the treatment of athletes (especially black athletes) at the college level. His anger and resentment have driven his wife away and led to excessive drinking and problems in his relationship with Jomo. Coaches seem oblivious to the signs of Jomo's steroid use until it is too late. High school football players in particular will recognize how mixed messages about pushing one's body to the limit can often lead young athletes to make bad choices. Jomo's self-serving rationalizations will resonate with anyone who has faced a difficult moral decision. Profane and scatological language abounds, but it is not outside the realm of what one could hear any day in a school locker room. Top-notch sports fiction.—Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT END

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