VVMBookBlog

Absolute Pressure by Sigmund Brouwer

Absolute Pressure is an easy and suspenseful read. Ian spends his summers in Florida (Key West) with his uncle. His uncle has a dive (scuba diving) business, and Ian is a certified diver. From the beginning this book is filled with mystery and excitement as Ian almost dies when someone tampers with his dive equipment. Readers who love suspense will not be disappointed as they learn who tampered with the equipment and why they tampered with it. Ian even finds a little romance as the story unfolds.

Cobra Strike by Sigmund Brouwer

Cobra Stike is an easy to read sports book. Although the main topic is football, the reader will appreciate other story lines which add suspense. Roy Linden is a quick wide receiver with a horrible quarterback. Life gets easier for Roy when Waymen joins his team. He is a fabulous quarterback who has college scouts visiting his games which allows Roy to get more publicity. The two become a great duo on and off the field. Besides his love for football, Roy also loves his grandmother who is concerned about the death of small animals near her house. This is the other story line which eventually allows the duo to work together off the field.

Boost by Kathy Mackel

Savvy and Callie are sisters and like many sisters are a bit competitive with each other. Although they’re somewhat competitive with each other, they are more competitive in their given sports. Callie is a cheerleader and Savvy is a basketball player. As the title would suggest, this is a book about steroids and sports. It is not, however, the typical book about steroids in sports. When drugs (steroids) are found in Savvy’s locker, many people are asking questions. The answers to these questions are probably not what the reader will expect. Boost takes a new look at steroids and the reasons young athletes use them while engaging the reader in a story about the competitive spirit, friendships, and family.

Two Minute Drill by Mike Lupica

Although Mike Lupica is one of ESPN’s featured sports reporters, he also has a career writing sports novels for young adults. His novel Two Minute Drill is about football. Actually it is about more than football. It is a book about friendship and popularity. Scott Parry is the new kid at school and is having problems with a bully until Chris Conlan, the school’s quarterback befriends him. Even though Scott is known as “the brain” and Chris doesn’t do well academically, the two have more in common than it would appear.

Students who like football will enjoy this book, but students who are not football fans will also find something entertaining about this book.

This book will fit into the genre of “sports books” but it isn’t your usual sports book.

Molly has just relocated to Boston to live with her Aunt Barbara and family after Molly’s mother died of cancer while they were living in London.  Before her mother died, she told Molly that she had known Boston Celtics super-star Josh Cameron back then they were in college, and that Josh Cameron was Molly’s father!  But when she waits for him after a game one day to tell him, do you think he believes her story?

Mike Lupica by profession is a sports columnist for various newspapers and appears on ESPN.  His knowledge of sports usually can be seen in his books in the realistic sports action that takes place.  In this book, we come to appreciate the importance of brand name companies sponsoring professional sports figures, and the importance of maintaining a certain image that will keep the sponsors happy.  So how do you think a sponsor would feel about a player all of a sudden finding out that he’s the father of a 12-year-old girl?

Read this book for another perspective on sports and sports heroes!