Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

by Jordan Sonnenblick Narrated by Luke Daniels

Overview

There's nothing All Star pitcher Peter Friedman loves more than baseball. It's his life. He breathes baseball, dreams about it, and works his tail off to be great. Most kids are nervous about starting high school, but Pete's amazing arm is going to make his life pretty easy. When you're the star, girls, popularity, and all-around stud status are sure to follow.

But Pete's freshman year doesn't turn out as planned. A pitching accident over the summer ruins his arm. If he can't play baseball, what is he supposed to do? If he isn't the star pitcher, then who is he? Pete's best friend and pitching partner, AJ, doesn't believe Pete-he tells him he'll be back to his normal self by spring training. To make matters more complicated, there's something going on with Pete's grampa-he's acting weird and keeps forgetting important things, and Pete's mother doesn't want to talk about it.

The only person Pete can confide in is Angelika, the amazingly cute girl in his photography class who might like Pete as much as he likes her...only Angie doesn't know if she can date someone who can't be honest with himself, or with the people he's closest to.

Editorial Reviews

From the Publisher

Praise for Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie:"A brave book . . . Jordan Sonnenblick carries it off with such charm and elan, you forget for a moment your heart is breaking." —Frank McCourt, author of Angela's Ashes* "Sonnenblick shows that even in the midst of tragedy, life goes on, love can flower, and the one thing you can always change is yourself." —Booklist, starred review"The reader falls in love with the brothers, laughing and crying by turns and rooting for both of them until it almost hurts." —Kirkus ReviewsPraise for After Ever After:* "As hilarious as it is tragic, and as honest as it is hopeful, don't confuse this book with inspirational reading. It's irresistible reading." —Booklist, starred review* "Sonnenblick's intimate first-person tale of survival . . . will leave an emotional, uplifting imprint." —School Library Journal, starred review"Jordan Sonnenblick continues Jeffrey's story in his signature style using an authentic teenage voice and laugh-out-loud humor." —TeensReadToo.comPraise for Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip:"Jordan Sonnenblick scores a home run with Curveball as he continues what he does best: getting to the core of issues that resonate with teens in a style that's direct and witty." —Book Page * "Sonnenblick again shows an adept ability to tackle big-deal life issues, treat them seriously and believably, and filter them into a high-spirited, even fun story." —Booklist, starred review* "The novel is populated with kind, vulnerable characters who care about each other, and the thoroughly enjoyable mix of sports, art, family drama, and budding romance will have readers invested in Peter's struggles to accept his new world..." —Publishers Weekly, starred reviewPraise for Notes from the Midnight Driver:* "[A] funny, bittersweet tour de force." —Booklist, starred review* "Readers [will be] nodding with recognition, sighing in sympathy, and gasping with laughter—often on the same page." —The Horn Book, starred review* "Sonnenblick revisits several key themes from his debut novel, Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie, to even greater effect here." —Publishers Weekly, starred reviewPraise for Zen and the Art of Faking It:* "Wildly funny." — Kliatt, starred review"This light-hearted situation comedy is peppered with genuine Zen insight." —Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books"Hilarious and heart-wrenching." —Kirkus Reviews"The writing is fresh, the characters appealing, and it looks like the author has another hit." —Oakland Tribune

JUNE 2012 - AudioFile

Can a high school freshman be in need of a comeback? Peter, a ninth grader who's good at baseball and photography, needs one badly. His beloved grandpa is forgetting things, his parents are distracted, his pitching elbow is injured, and he's just met a girl. So how can he get back in the game? Luke Daniels's warm take on Peter brings the teen to life and gives the story depth. Not so much a sports story, this is a story of sportsmanship: "You must play every game like it's your final shot at the World Series." It turns out that sports is a metaphor for life—when you put your heart into it. M.M.C. Winner of AudioFile Earphones Award © AudioFile 2012, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

When Peter Friedman injures his arm the summer before starting high school, and the doctors tell him he will never pitch again, his life is turned upside down. Not only has Peter's pitching career gone down the tubes, his beloved grandfather is showing signs of Alzheimer's disease. Grampa, a well-known photographer, has taught Peter much of what he knows about the craft, which comes in handy when Peter takes a photography elective at school. There he meets Angelika, a girl with the most amazing pale blue eyes, and she becomes Peter's on-and-off-again girlfriend and moral compass throughout the story as he learns to handle high-school life, his disappointment over not playing ball, his grampa's decline and his first relationship with a girl. The first-person point of view works well for getting readers inside Peter's head, and his narration is poignant and frequently humorous, but the story as a whole doesn't quite cohere: Grampa's words of guidance and wisdom eventually feel didactic; it's never quite believable that it takes months for Peter to tell his best friend his arm will not heal, and he'll never play ball again; and Angelika is, oddly, too off-camera as the story ends. Still, Peter is a likable narrator for a satisfying story with heart. (Fiction. 12 & up)

Product Details

BN ID:	2940172379857
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	03/01/2012
Edition description:	Unabridged
Age Range:	12 - 17 Years

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