Perfect Season (Football Genius, 6)

Perfect Season (Football Genius, 6)

In this sixth book of New York Times bestselling author Tim Green’s gripping Football Genius series, Troy must fight hard to win big. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica. Troy's dreams of the big time have backfired. Sure, he's moved to New Jersey to start his new job as "genius" for the New York Jets, but his dad has taken his entire salary, leaving Troy and his mom broke. Instead of going to the private school of his dreams and playing for a football powerhouse, he's going to be part of a team with an unbroken losing streak. But Troy isn’t giving up without a fight. As soon as he convinces Seth to coach his public school team, Troy feels ready for a perfect season. But when his knack for calling plays slips and his abilities as a quarterback are threatened, he has to dig deep to prove all the naysayers wrong. And it will take all of Troy's football genius to get this team to a perfect season. Despite some excellent game action in the later chapters, this latest episode in the Football Genius series continues to focus on side themes—particularly the hazards of high living, loose talk, and shady deals going down in the world of pro sports. Here “genius” Troy finds himself at a middle/high school and overcomes both personal and political obstacles to turn its dying football program around. Coaching and practice sessions get nearly as much play as the eventual gridiron heroics, and Green adds a particularly colorful young wide receiver to the cast. While some will cheer, less patient readers will probably leave the stadium before halftime. Grades 5-8. --John Peters Praise for Football Genius: - . “Non-sports fans will root for underdog Troy (’I want to do something. I want to be something. I thought this was my chance’) and enthusiasts will thrill to the first-hand knowledge Green brings to the novel.” - Publishers Weekly “Green makes Troy a winning hero, and he ties everything together with a fast-moving plot.” - ALA Booklist “A first purchase for libraries looking to bolster their sports fiction.” - School Library Journal It will take all of Troy's football genius to turn this team's season around. Troy's dreams of the big time have backfired. Sure, he's moved to New Jersey so he can take on his new job as "genius" for the New York Jets, but his dad has taken his entire salary, leaving Troy and his mom strapped for funds. Now Troy has no hope of going to a swank private school and playing for a football powerhouse with his newfound cousin Ty. Instead he's going to be part of a team with an unbroken losing streak. Knowing that the road to the NFL begins at an early age, Troy fights back. When he gets Seth to come up from Atlanta to coach his public school team, Troy feels ready for a winning streak—a perfect season. He doesn't guess that he'll soon be struggling against powerful people who want him to lose. When Troy's talent for calling the plays for his NFL team slips and his abilities as a quarterback are seriously threatened, he's got to dig deep. Tim Green delivers a gripping new book in his Football Genius series, with the tense action on and off the field that have made him a New York Times bestselling author. Tim Green , for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and American Outrage . Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors, and he has also worked as an NFL commentator for FOX Sports and NPR. His first book for young readers, Football Genius , inspired in part by his players and his own kids, became a New York Times bestseller and was followed by Football Hero , Football Champ, The Big Time , and Deep Zone . He drew on his experiences playing and coaching Little League for Rivals and Pinch Hit and two more New York Times bestsellers: Baseball Great and Best of the Best . Bestselling author Jon Scieszka called Tim Green's Unstoppable , a book about a boy's struggle with cancer that debuted at #2 on the New York Times bestseller list, "Absolutely heroic. And something every guy should read.” Tim Green lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York.