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The Only Game

ebook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available
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.
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  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      February 9, 2015
      Lupica (Game Changers) launches the Home Team series with a novel that meshes themes of baseball, friendship, and facing oneâs fears. Seventh-grader Jack Callahan is his teamâs star pitcher and shortstop, so everyone is shocked when he quits baseball during the lead-up to the Little League World Series. âMy heartâs not in it,â he tells his disappointed parents, before spilling the real reason heâs abandoning the team: âBaseball wonât bring my brother back.â Lupica thoughtfully explores Jackâs belief that he could have saved his daredevil older brother, Brad, who died the previous year in a dirt-bike accident. Cassie, an ace softball pitcher, reaches out to Jack, offering no-nonsense counsel about his misplaced guilt while subtly encouraging his return to the diamond. Jack, in turn, helps a much-teased classmate by coaching him in self-confidence and baseball. Lupica again proves his aptitude for lacing lightning-speed sports action with credible insight into playersâ thoughts and emotions. This, along with Cassieâs pivotal role, should give the novel a wide reach and appeal. Ages 8â12. Agent: Esther Newberg, ICM.

    • School Library Journal

      December 1, 2014

      Gr 4-6- On the official opening day of baseball in his small town, Jack Callahan, superlative seventh grade shortstop and arguably the best pitcher in town, surprisingly quits at the end of an outstanding first practice. Jack and his best friend Gus had expected to be strong contenders in the Atlantic League with aspirations of playing in the Little League World Series in Williamsport, PA. Believing that an earlier tragedy involving his older brother Brad was all his fault, Jack takes a break from the only game he ever loved. This hiatus is short-lived, and he soon finds himself back at the diamond coaching girls softball. Slowly, he makes it back to his own team. Loyalty, friendship, courage, and teamwork are key components in the novel. Jack and his teammates have a falling out after Jack's decision to quit the team before the season even starts. This leads to new friendships with Cassie, a strong female character, and Teddy, an overweight, friendly guy whom Jack protects from bullying. Various acts of courage are displayed by Cassie, Teddy, and Jack. Lupica lays the foundation for a great sports series where friendship carries the characters through tribulations. Middle-grade readers will easily identify with the four friends. Although the story is sports related, this is more than a baseball book and will appeal to a wide variety of readers. A must-buy.-Glynis Jean Wray, Ocean County Library, Toms River, NJ

      Copyright 2014 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 25, 2015
      Seventh grader Jack Callahan is his team's star pitcher and shortstop, so everyone is shocked when he quits baseball during the lead-up to the Little League World Series. "My heart's not in it," he tells his disappointed parents, before spilling the real reason he's abandoning the team: "Baseball won't bring my brother back." Lupica thoughtfully explores Jack's belief that he could have saved his daredevil older brother, Brad, who died the previous year in a dirt-bike accident. While Callahan sorts out his life and the events of the past year, he slowly finds a new crowd of friends at school who show him a life beyond baseball. Nobbs reads with a strong narrative voice that has good emphasis, timing, and tone, especially when delivering the weight of emotionally tense scenes. But when it comes to providing the voices for the colorful slew of other characters, Nobbs's narration is either flat or overly caricatured. Ages 8â12. A Simon & Schuster hardcover.

    • The Horn Book

      July 1, 2015
      Everyone is shocked when seventh grader Jack Callahan quits his baseball team. Jack spends time helping coach new friends, softball standout Cassie and baseball-challenged Teddy. These friendships allow him to deal with his brother's fatal accident. Lupica's game-time segments come later in the novel, allowing an emotional story of loss, friendship, and love of baseball to unfold.

      (Copyright 2015 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

    • Kirkus

      December 15, 2014
      In the opener of a four-book series about kids in the baseball-loving town of Walton, 12-year-old Jack Callahan struggles to square his personal sorrows with his deep love of the game.Gifted baseball player Jack and buddy Gus, whose family roots in the Dominican Republic partly inform his aspiration to the Little League championships in Williamsport, have played since T-ball. Jack's sudden announcement on tryout day that he won't be playing this season angers Gus and bewilders his own parents. But the town's softball superstar, classmate Cassie, steps up to offer simple, straightforward friendship to Jack. She persuades Jack to keep connected with the game by helping her dad coach her team. A new friendship with another classmate, Teddy, allows Jack to reveal that he blames himself for his risk-taking older brother's accidental death the summer before. Adults are admirable: Coaches emphasize sportsmanship; parents set aside their own troubles to support their children. The baseball narrative is terrific-Lupica recaps these fictional games with brisk, exciting clarity. The friendship story is solid, kind and reassuring, and even if most of the young characters demonstrate unlikely maturity rather than depth, readers will only notice the qualities that are best in them. A lovely nod to Derek Jeter rounds out a winner of a sports novel. (Fiction. 9-13)

      COPYRIGHT(2014) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Formats

  • Kindle Book
  • OverDrive Read
  • EPUB ebook

Languages

  • English

Levels

  • ATOS Level:5
  • Lexile® Measure:790
  • Interest Level:4-8(MG)
  • Text Difficulty:3-4

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