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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
Interesting take on high school sports culture and counterculture
Overall a fun read and would have been four stars, but the ending was off. Concluded pretty abruptly after a kinda disturbing plot thread was introduced but not resolved. I think a lot of my junior high students would enjoy this one.
3.5 stars
Sportsball for losers. #3wordbookreview
Working in a traditional boys' school that holds sport in high regards, I found this book funny and so spot on in many places!
I think there will be a few sport agnostics in my school that will enjoy this :)
Sportsball for losers. #3wordbookreview
Working in a traditional boys' school that holds sport in high regards, I found this book funny and so spot on in many places!
I think there will be a few sport agnostics in my school that will enjoy this :)
I hated the rest of the 'Losers' team's attitude, messing up on purpose to get laughs and fans. If they had actually tried, but didn't win, the message in this book would be a lot better, but I did like the ending and it had some language, but nothing else really inappropriate happened. Love what the MC decided to do in the end!
Loved this alternate take on the sports culture of some high schools; this was like a Bad News Bears novel for teens. When the new high school principal (who is also the championship football team's coach) decrees that every senior must be on a sports team in order to graduate, senior Jack Logan decides to form a low-level soccer team so that he and his friends can meet the requirement. None of his friends are any good at soccer--Jack is fairly athletic but refuses to play his father's sport, football--so when they play their first game, the self-dubbed "Losers" barely keep the ball in motion. But their horrible game play is nothing compared to the verbal drubbing their principal gives them after the game--and when someone secretly films that cussing-out and posts it as a funny online video intercut with their sloppy soccer moves, the video goes viral and suddenly people from all over the place want to come watch them play and cheer them on! They have fans who want to protest the school's "sports over everything" attitude, as well as fans who just want to support them for trying their hardest. The Losers also get involved in a war with the members of the school's football team, who resent the soccer team's sudden popularity for being losers. The story also includes some great father-son relationship stuff, because Jack's father and older brothers, all huge football fans and star players, can't understand why he won't play the sport they all love. Good book for non-sports fans as well as those who play a sport.
funny
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I always enjoy David Klass' books. They're "quiet YA," in the sense that he's not a flashy author with a huge fandom, but his books are solidly written from a male POV and give you a lot to think about. Although I didn't like this quite as much as I liked Grandmaster, I do think it's worth reading, especially for those of us who understand what it's like to live in a sports-obsessed town or attend a school where jocks rule. I think some of the supporting characters got short shrift, and I was surprised at the lack of diversity, given that it's set in New Jersey, but overall this is a fast read about a guy whose bad news bears soccer team makes the school think about the way it treats non athletes.
I don't know what I was expecting when I picked up this book, maybe like a silly sports comedy, but the end result had a lot more heart than I initially gave it credit for.
Jack Logan is the youngest in a sports dynasty in a town that prizes sports prowess. When the new principal/football coach decrees all seniors must join a sports team, Jack feels pressured to live up to his father's reputation. Rather than submit, Jack and his friends create their own third string soccer team and make an art out of losing.
Like I mentioned earlier, a lot heavier than I anticipated. Jack's internal voice is hilarious and the writing is seriously laugh-out-loud funny at parts. But these characters also are teenagers who are dealing with post-high-school dreams, parental expectations, bullying, divorce, layoffs, growing up, etc.
Jack Logan is the youngest in a sports dynasty in a town that prizes sports prowess. When the new principal/football coach decrees all seniors must join a sports team, Jack feels pressured to live up to his father's reputation. Rather than submit, Jack and his friends create their own third string soccer team and make an art out of losing.
Like I mentioned earlier, a lot heavier than I anticipated. Jack's internal voice is hilarious and the writing is seriously laugh-out-loud funny at parts. But these characters also are teenagers who are dealing with post-high-school dreams, parental expectations, bullying, divorce, layoffs, growing up, etc.
Extra star for exceeded expectation.
I grew up in a football home. Each year fell into three sections: high school football (where my Dad coached and my brother played quarterback), college football (where my cousin played in the Big Ten), and pro football (our house was divided into three camps: Packers, Jets, and Buccaneers.) The schedule drove me crazy. Just as one finished, another picked up. Between practices and games, I barely saw my Dad from June to November. When it came to picking a college, I decided to get out of the football world. I went to a school where there was no college football team, where no one spoke of the Big Ten in reverent tones, and where their pro-football team was so bad they pretended they didn't have one (sorry, Tennessee.) I was going to escape football cold turkey.
Then I made a shocking discovery. I could run from one part, but there was no escaping sports as a whole. My lovely little get away school was obsessed with soccer and basketball and (provided they were having a good season) baseball. It drove me crazy.
Football didn't look so bad after a while.
Funny thing is, I'm now actually quite fond on the sport (GO PACKERS!) It just took stepping away from it for a while to appreciate balance.
I didn't expect [b:Losers Take All|23310743|Losers Take All|David Klass|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420944509s/23310743.jpg|42864854] to have balance. I expected a typical underdogs story where lovable scamps discover hidden talent and win state Mighty Ducks style. Or, as the book promised a truly horrendous team rebelling against a sports-crazy high school, a scathing review of sports in general. The book doesn't fit in one camp or another, though. Its subtle and funny and actually has a really good overall lesson about pursuing talents, having fun, and leading a revolution (of sorts.)
The story took a while to get started and I still couldn't tell Jack's two buddies apart by the end of the book, but I truly appreciated the ending. I appreciated the clean YA romance and lack of language. I appreciate teens struggling with real problems and expectations and learning to stand strong, but not in a cheesy way.
I appreciate this one the way I appreciate [b:Cricket Man|2990363|Cricket Man|Phyllis Reynolds Naylor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349074686s/2990363.jpg|3020824] and [b:Good Enough|1722423|Good Enough|Paula Yoo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347430158s/1722423.jpg|1719809]. Its a book in the YA genre that connects the emotions and frustrations of teens but doesn't blow it out of proportion. It dramatically and yet realistically pulls together common experiences to create a wry, appreciative story about life and sports and what it means to win.
I grew up in a football home. Each year fell into three sections: high school football (where my Dad coached and my brother played quarterback), college football (where my cousin played in the Big Ten), and pro football (our house was divided into three camps: Packers, Jets, and Buccaneers.) The schedule drove me crazy. Just as one finished, another picked up. Between practices and games, I barely saw my Dad from June to November. When it came to picking a college, I decided to get out of the football world. I went to a school where there was no college football team, where no one spoke of the Big Ten in reverent tones, and where their pro-football team was so bad they pretended they didn't have one (sorry, Tennessee.) I was going to escape football cold turkey.
Then I made a shocking discovery. I could run from one part, but there was no escaping sports as a whole. My lovely little get away school was obsessed with soccer and basketball and (provided they were having a good season) baseball. It drove me crazy.
Football didn't look so bad after a while.
Funny thing is, I'm now actually quite fond on the sport (GO PACKERS!) It just took stepping away from it for a while to appreciate balance.
I didn't expect [b:Losers Take All|23310743|Losers Take All|David Klass|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1420944509s/23310743.jpg|42864854] to have balance. I expected a typical underdogs story where lovable scamps discover hidden talent and win state Mighty Ducks style. Or, as the book promised a truly horrendous team rebelling against a sports-crazy high school, a scathing review of sports in general. The book doesn't fit in one camp or another, though. Its subtle and funny and actually has a really good overall lesson about pursuing talents, having fun, and leading a revolution (of sorts.)
The story took a while to get started and I still couldn't tell Jack's two buddies apart by the end of the book, but I truly appreciated the ending. I appreciated the clean YA romance and lack of language. I appreciate teens struggling with real problems and expectations and learning to stand strong, but not in a cheesy way.
I appreciate this one the way I appreciate [b:Cricket Man|2990363|Cricket Man|Phyllis Reynolds Naylor|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1349074686s/2990363.jpg|3020824] and [b:Good Enough|1722423|Good Enough|Paula Yoo|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1347430158s/1722423.jpg|1719809]. Its a book in the YA genre that connects the emotions and frustrations of teens but doesn't blow it out of proportion. It dramatically and yet realistically pulls together common experiences to create a wry, appreciative story about life and sports and what it means to win.
Losers Take All is a 2018-2018 preliminary nominee for both the Gateway and the Truman Readers awards. It is about a group of seniors at a high school where sports participation is mandatory for seniors, so they decide to form their own team, dedicated to fun and the art of losing.
This was a fun read, although it does touch on serious themes: divorce, bullying, friendship, and what matters most. I really enjoyed it. Parts of it are a little over the top, but that's part of its charm.
This was a fun read, although it does touch on serious themes: divorce, bullying, friendship, and what matters most. I really enjoyed it. Parts of it are a little over the top, but that's part of its charm.