about the book
People in Texas eat, breathe, and live football, especially high school football. And for the players, it is high pressure all the way from the Pop Warner leagues to the final senior grid-iron play. To say Texans are football crazed is a major understatement! Especially for the Cullen family. They are pigskin royalty.
Troy Cullen was a wildly popular NFL quarterback, but three major concussions have sidelined his career. A born leader with a bulldozer personality, he came home to take over the family ranch, tripling its size and success in just a short time. Wyatt, Troy’s unbeatable oldest son, followed right in his father’s footsteps, taking his small town Granger High School team to the Texas state championships last season. Now, even though it’s his first year of college, Wyatt’s the starting quarterback for the University of Texas. For the Cullen family, there is no other position besides quarterback.
Fourteen-year-old Jake is the youngest member of the Cullen triad, and standing in the shadow of his father and brother is more than just a little daunting. Though a straight-A student and a great team player, he doesn’t feel like a winner—and he certainly doesn’t want the spotlight. Everyone expects this freshman to be handed the team’s starting quarterback slot, but the coach is not so impressed. Jake will have to fight for the right to snap the ball.
Though he is a Cullen, he is neither his father nor his brother. With the winning QB 1 legacy sitting squarely on his shoulders, can he live up to the Cullen name and take the underdog Granger Cowboys all the way to the state championship his freshman year, something even his very talented brother was unable to do?
about the author
Born in Oneida, New York, Mike Lupica spent his childhood in Nashua, New Hampshire, playing sports and reading Hardy Boys mysteries, science adventures, and books about sports. He graduated from Boston College.
His first job was covering the New York Knicks basketball team and, at 23, he was hired by the New York Post, becoming the youngest columnist of any New York City paper. Besides being a syndicated newspaper columnist, he is a television and radio commentator and anchor. He writes magazine articles, sports biographies, autobiographies (co-authored) for Reggie Jackson and Bill Parcells, non-fiction books, and novels for both adults and children.
For young boys, Mike writes realistic sports-related stories that involve normal boys, with themes of friendship, loyalty, and never giving up. Although his characters are usually the underdogs, he never gives them more than they can handle! Mike was inspired the write QB 1 by the real-life Manning family. The father Archie and the Super Bowl winning sons Peyton and Eli were all quarterbacks.
Mike lives in New Canaan, Connecticut, with his wife Taylor and their three sons and a daughter. Mike spends a lot of his free time coaching kid’s soccer and basketball teams.
Sources:
Author website
Author biography: Wikipedia
Author biography: BookBrowse
Author interview: Time for Kids
Book trailer
Author video interview
Also by Mike Lupica:
Heavy Hitters (Game Changers, Book 3). Scholastic. 2014.
Fantasy League. Philomel. 2014.
Play Makers (Game Changers, Book 2). Scholastic. 2013.
Hero. Philomel. 2010.
The Batboy. Philomel. 2010.
Million-Dollar Throw. Philomel. 2009.
The Big Field. Philomel. 2008.
Summer Ball. Philomel. 2007.
Miracle on 49th Street. Philomel. 2006.
Heat. Philomel. 2006.
Travel Team. Philomel. 2004.
read more!
Fantasy League by Mike Lupica
Charlie may be just an average seventh grader, but he has an amazing knowledge of football teams and a sixth sense about game strategy. When his friend Anna invites him to meet her grandpa, who owns the Los Angeles Bulldogs professional football team, Charlie recommends replacing the quarterback with an older, less popular player. Suddenly the team breaks out of its losing streak—and Charlie is in the spotlight.
War and Watermelon by Rich Wallacen
In 1969, Brody hangs out at the public pool, contemplates starting seventh grade, and tries not to mess up at football practice. But as his older brother approaches his 18th birthday, the draft, anti-war protests, Woodstock, and his brother’s arguments with dad wakes Brody up to the real world and the war that could take his brother away.
Football Genius by Tim Green
Troy has an unusual gift for predicting football plays before they occur. When his mother lands a job as a PR assistant for his favorite team, the Atlanta Falcons, Troy hopes to use his talents to help the team have a winning season. But when his suggestions to the star player rub the team’s defensive coordinator the wrong way, his mother’s job is threatened. How can he prove himself to the coaches and players?