Center Field

April 12, 2010
Lipsyte again shines light on the dark corners of high school jock culture, this time focusing on the corrupt adults who let kids make bad choices so long as the people in charge look good. Mike believes he’s the starting centerfielder until a new kid, Oscar, shows up. Oscar’s past is murky, but his skills are evident. Is he really a high school–age transfer student? Anxious about becoming a benchwarmer, Mike shoves a nerdy kid who is annoying him, resulting in weekend community service helping the school’s Cyber Club. These eye-opening sessions reveal that the maniacal baseball coach, who also serves as the school’s dean of discipline, either has something of his own to hide or serious control issues. Mike wrestles with increasingly hard choices—should he please the coach by delivering dirt on his Cyber Club buds (including the foxy but tortured Katherine), or maintain his integrity and lose a chance at a baseball scholarship? Though this one doesn’t pack the wallop of Raiders’ Night
(2006), Lipsyte delivers another thoughtful, entertaining sports drama. Ages 12–up.

April 1, 2010
Gr 7 Up-Mike Semak's chances of becoming star center fielder and senior team captain are jeopardized when he loses his temper with a geeky classmate, Zack. The sweet spot on the baseball team becomes even more elusive when a cocky cleanup batter, Oscar Ramirez, arrives out of nowhere with a murky birth date and questionable immigration status. Mike's penance for fighting is to help out at Cyber Club, but he learns that Coach Cody purposefully assigned him to spy on Zack and other "pukes" he suspects are hacking into the school network. There, he falls for Kat, a smart and contentious girl who seems the antithesis of his girlfriend, Lori, a pretty baton twirler. Conflicted about Kat, his coach's paranoia, and his father's possible role in bringing the Ramirez family to town, Mike looks to his major league idol, Billy Budd, whose blog has always provided sound advice about baseball and other life matters. Mike wins a contest to meet his longtime hero, only to be disappointed by the "dumb jock" reality, and finds his own moral compass to solve his problems. Appealing primarily to a jock culture, Lipsyte's characters are fairly stereotypical, especially in Coach Cody's military approach to sports and discipline, and in Lori's portrayal as a giggly boy pleaser with a "pert butt and boobs." Mystery and relationship subplots may engage a wider audience, but the story shines in the play-by-play game and practice descriptions. While some real major league names are dropped, fictional Billy Budd's portrayal as a celebrity carefully conceived by media handlers is an element that won't be lost on teens."Vicki Reutter, Cazenovia High School, NY"

Copyright 2010 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

February 15, 2010
Grades 9-12 High-school-junior Mike Semak has worked hard to earn his starting position in center field on his varsity baseball team. He finds inspiration and training tips by closely following the Web site of his hero, Billy Budd (a fictional member of the Yankees). Mikes dream year becomes complicated after the arrival of Oscar, a Dominican who threatens his position. In addition, Mike contends with a stale relationship with his girlfriend, as well as required community service with the schools Cyber Club. The novel includes intriguing ethical issues, but there are too many of them, and the plot spirals out of control as it follows its multiple strands about a coachs personal secrets, illegal-immigration charges, a disappointing meeting with Billy Budd, and Mikes new romance (including sex) with Kat, a track star whose nickname is Tigerbitch for her violent mood swings. Its the novel, not the players, that are on steroids here, but Lipsyte is a master at sports fiction, and the baseball sequences are first rate.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2010, American Library Association.)

July 1, 2010
Mike expects to play center field until a new superb ballplayer appears. But is Oscar over-age? An illegal immigrant? And what are the coach's motivations in determining disciplinary actions? What's his grudge against the Cyber Club? Like a well-rounded ballplayer, Lipsyte shows versatility, focus, and virtuosity in writing about hero-worship, compromise, integrity, and emotion--seemingly without breaking a sweat.

(Copyright 2010 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)