Heart of a Champion

My son loves this book! He’s a baseball player so he can easily relate to the characters.

I'm normally not a sports reader ...to be truthful I only picked up this book because it won an award for reluctant readers and that is precisely what I have in my classroom, reluctance.This story is masterfully crafted and the words practically bleed with the passion for the game. The action describing the games is poetic and thrilling. He makes baseball sound like a symphony -- pointing out the cadences and nuances lost to the layman. I found myself biting my nails on for the outcome of the games or refusing to put it down to see which team pulls ahead for the championship.Relegating this book to simply a fantastic sports story is selling it short. This book is really about the power of friendship and how it is expressed on the field. This story is reminiscent of the movie Amadeus where we see a masterful talent through the eyes of another exceptional player. Unlike that movie we have a tender, compassionate friend who recounts how this player affected and changed his life through the art of baseball. I say art because Deuker made me see the game in a different way ...which I never thought possible.I finished the book reaffirming why I became an English teacher ... yes it's to connect students with outstanding reads like this one but it's also because of my students that I picked up this book. I feel like I should dedicate this read and review to them because I am so much better for having read this story.

Brings back a lot of memories growing up playing sports. Read this in high school. Quick read, solid book. Just wish there were a couple more chapters with some closure. Maybe tell what happened when they grew up...

Seth's dad died when he was just seven years old, and he's struggled ever since. Several years later he becomes friends with Jimmy Winters, a very talented and baseball-obsessed kid with a perfectionist father who drills him constantly on the game. But baseball gives Seth a direction he didn't have before, and while he's never as good as Jimmy he makes the high school team and his school performance improves and he becomes an honor student.One prominent theme in the book is the lack of a father in Seth's life. Unfortunately for Jimmy, his alcoholic father isn't a role model, either, and it isn't long before his parents get divorced. But another prominent theme is the lure of alcohol for teenagers, and the devastating effects it can have.This is a great book that lots of kids who don't ordinarily like reading will love (as is shown by many of the reviews here). My son read this book as an 8th grade summer-reading assignment and really enjoyed it. The play-by-play is full of action and the fundamentals of "how" a player should think are illustrated repeatedly, in marked contrast to another book my son and I read,  The Big Field  by Mike Lupica (this book is much better). The narration by Seth comes across a bit flat for most of the book, but it makes better sense when you get to the end. I also thought the ending felt rather abrupt, but realized that it gives the message a forcefulness that might otherwise have been lacking. While the story revolves around baseball it has much larger implications, and will resonate with lots of kids.

My son does not like to read at all whatsoever. He needed a book at school to read. He really enjoyed this book, and would like to find more like this!

I read this book b/c my son picked it for his 8th grade summer reading. I devoured it, even thought It's slow. My son says "boring," but it's far from boring. The author is masterfully setting the stage and bringing you in w/ everyday happenings of the lives of young boys who play baseball. I mean, you can just picture these boys and their connection through the simple (not simple-minded) dialogue they have. I was in tears at the end of the book. This author is a freakin' genious the way he sets the stage and the local color and has a few exceptionally profound statements, said in a kids voice. This book is soulful and needs to be a must read in schools. Especially since kids today must read things like Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery."

My son doesn’t love to read, but he has read this book 4-5 times. He likes reading sports-related books, especially about baseball, but he told me that this story really stuck with him, and he enjoys reading it over and over. A winner, for sure!!

This is a youth book about two boys' love for baseball. One is extremely talented on the baseball field while the other is better than average. They support each other in many ways. The author outlines their home lives along with the problems that many families may have.One boy's father is an alcoholic while the other's had died many years earlier. They are challenged with typical problems facing teenagers, such as drugs and alcohol, academics in school, and dedication to the sport of which they love. Will they or won't they win the state championship?This would be an interesting book for 10-15 year old boys. It's also a fun book for adults!