From Amazon.com
Breaking, bank shots, slices, and safeties—-fifth grader Mickey Vernon can shoot pool better than some guys twice his age. His philosophy is simple: "I think a lot of the world's problems could be solved by a couple of guys shooting a few racks down at the local hall." But sometimes that's hard to remember when he's facing down seventh-grade bully Buck Pender. Buck is determined to beat Mickey in the annual youth tournament down at Vernon's, the pool hall owned and operated by Mickey's grandma Poppy. And he just might do it, too. Except Mickey's got a secret weapon. Joseph Alvarez, a big rig trucker and family friend, has returned to town, and he was coached by the best pool player on the nine-ball professional circuit--Mickey's dad, who died shortly after Mickey was born. So with the help of Joseph and his two best friends, 10-year-old math genius Arlen and magician extraordinaire Francine, Mickey just might have a shot at the championship. Then Buck baits him into playing a game in which Mickey badly sprains his stick hand, just three short weeks before the tournament. Has Mickey just scratched the cue ball of his dreams?
Fun, folksy, and big-hearted, Joan Bauer's first novel for middle-grade readers is sweeter than a 90-degree bank shot off the rail and into the corner pocket. Mickey's unselfconscious and humorous narration ranks with that of Archie in How I Became a Writer and Oggie Learned to Drive by Janet Taylor Lisle or Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. (Ages 9 to 12) --Jennifer Hubert
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Publishers Weekly
A family-run pool hall in a blue-collar New Jersey town plays backdrop to Bauer's (Thwonk; Squashed) surprisingly sluggish novel. Mickey Vernon's the name of the determined 10-year-old protagonist and nine-ball is the game he intends to win in the annual youth pool tournament. After all, pool is in Mickey's blood?his long-dead father was a champion and his no-nonsense grandmother still owns and runs Vernon's Pool Hall, site of the approaching nine-ball showdown. But Mickey discovers it's going to take more than desire and talent to win. With coaching from his math-whiz best friend Arlen, as well as from Joseph Alvarez, a mysterious man from his father's past, Mickey just might have a shot at beating the likely champ, town bully Buck. Bauer attempts to stack her deck with potentially colorful characters, but Mickey lacks the emotional spark needed to engage an audience and his contrived world leaves readers feeling unfulfilled. Arlen's constant harping on the power of math in the game of pool verges on the preachy, while reservations about Alvarez prove a letdown in terms of dramatic payoff. Though the somewhat offbeat subject matter may be a draw for some middle graders, fans of the light humor and breezy style of Bauer's earlier works are likely to be disappointed. Ages 8-12.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
