The book “The Only Game”, written by Mike Lupica, is a realistic fiction sports novel. In this story Jack Callahan, a 13 year old boy,who lives in a baseball town called Walton, is grieving over his older brother Brad's death and learning how to handle the stress in his life, especially baseball. He wants to make his brother proud, but cannot help but blame himself for his brother's death. Why is he blaming himself? He decides he needs a break from baseball to focus on dealing with his brother's death. Once news gets around that the best player on the boys baseball team is quitting, Jack's friends get angry that Jack left without an explanation. Jack also has to decide how to tell his parents that he has decided to quit baseball. While Jack is taking a break from baseball he makes some new friends that support him and remind him how beneficial baseball is in his life. After his new friends help him work through his grief and get him back out on the field Jack decides to help them show off their own talent on the field. He teaches them the rules of baseball and reminds them how important it is to believe in yourself. But who is teaching who? The topics addressed in this book are grief, love, loss, guilt, trust and friendships.This teaches how important good mental health is when playing a sport. Overall I love the lesson that the book taught and I would definitely recommend this book. I give this book a 4.5 star rating.
The Only Game (Home Team)
By Mike Lupica
| Interest Level | Reading Level | Reading A-Z | ATOS | Word Count |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grades 4 - 8 | Grades 3 - 5 | n/a | 5 | 59561 |
Jack Callahan is the star of his baseball team and sixth 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 picked on 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—and he might just be able to find his way back to The Only Game.
Book Reviews (5)
First of all, Mike Lupica is an amazing author and I highly recommend any of his books. Except I think The Only Game is the best. If you like books about how a family gets over a loss of a loved one, and how a boy has put all of that behind him and not let his whole team down to win the big championship game. If you do then you would love this book.
fantastic, I could not put it down. everyone should read this
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This is one of my favorite books!!! I suggest reading this if you like sports. ''The Only Game'' is a book about a boy named Jack who lost his brother along with baseball. It is about friendship, confidence, and love. It relates to me a lot, that is one of the resons I love reading Mike Lupica books. Do you like clif hangers? If you do read this. It kept me reading, I could not stop! I really injoyed this. I hope you get into this book as I did!!
this is the type of book that I read