Box Out

John Coy

Feb 2010 · Scholastic Inc.

About this ebook

John Coy turns to the high-stakes world of high school basketball in this fast-paced YA novel--now in paperback with new cover art! Sophomore Liam Bergstrom just joined the varsity basketball team. His teammates made varsity because they're good. Liam's here because he's tall and Coach needs a guy who can grab rebounds. It's the chance Liam's been waiting for, but already he's playing catch-up. The other guys know what Coach expects, and they're willing to do things Coach's way, no matter what. So when Liam questions the team's practice of praying together before games, he's suddenly the odd man out. Now Liam has to find the guts to stand up for what he believes in--and take his game to a whole new level.

Ratings and reviews

Liam Bergstrom is one lucky sophomore. The varsity coach is bringing him up from JV to rebound for the varsity. Another player's bad luck (an injury) has become good luck for Liam. When he starts practicing with the varsity, he gives it everything he has. He wants to make his mark on the team because of his ability, not just because of his height. The coach seems impressed, and Liam spends a fair amount of time off the bench and right in the middle of the action. Unfortunately, there is one thing about the varsity team that kind of surprises Liam, and to be honest, disappoints him. Before each game and at half-time, the team is required to pray. Coach asks a player to lead the team in prayer, and even though Liam is a practicing Catholic who believes in God and prayer, he feels uncomfortable. In addition to the game prayers, Liam discovers that the team members are expected to attend the HAF (Horizon Athletic Fellowship) meetings as well. When Liam begins to question the legality of praying at school, several of the players tell him it's just the cost of being part of the team. Liam doesn't like the fact that not everyone on the team may follow Christian beliefs, and he feels hypocritical when he just pretends to participate. When he finally decides to ask the coach about the situation, he gets an answer he later learns was a lie. Having his coach lie to him and then expect him to do something as personal as pray, makes Liam take the issue to the next level. Bringing the question of separation of church and state to the attention of people beyond the team stirs up things with his teammates and even the school principal. Liam finds out that asking questions and then standing up for what you believe in is not always the easiest road to take. Liam learns that sacrifices are hard and often costly. BOX OUT is an excellent book. It provides plenty of play-by-play basketball action, plenty of teenage anxiety involving school, parents, and romantic issues, as well as plenty of possible discussion topics for teens and adults. It is well worth reading.

I have a love for basketball, this books sums up the problems that basketball players have. Its very good and you after you pick the book up you won't want to put it down !!

This book needs help big time

About the author

John Coy is an award-winning author, who worked as a dishwasher, mattress maker, and tour guide before taking up writing. He's active in sports and is a member of the NBA Reading All-Star Team as part of the Read to Achieve program. John has traveled to all fifty states as well as to many countries internationally.His work includes Strong to the Hoop, an American Library Association Notable Book, Night Driving, a Marion Vannett Ridgway Memorial Award winner and a Horn Book Fanfare title, Two Old Potatoes and Me, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor Book, a Nickelodeon Jr.1s Best Books of the Year, and a featured book on PBS Reading Rainbow, and Vroomaloom Zoom, a book of excellence on the Children1s Literature Choice List. His newest picture book Around the World is about international basketball.John1s latest title is Crackback, a young adult novel that reveals the high stakes world of high school football as a young player finds himself in a difficult situation. John's experience as a defensive back on his high school football team brings an authentic voice to which readers will be able to relate. "As a boy I loved playing football in the back yard and later in organized games," says John. "Football was the one place where smashing into people was not only okay, it was rewarded."The idea for the novel came when he wrote Strong to the Hoop. "My editor for Strong to the Hoop said that the language and action convinced her that I had a novel in me and that she would like to see it when I wrote it," John states. "When I was ready to write it, the topic that grabbed me was high school football."John also wanted to convey his belief that it is impossible to overestimate the degree of identification some teenagers have with sports. "I was such a teenager, and my choices for reading such books were much more limited than the options available today."John Coy writes and plays sports in Minnesota and wherever else he can join a game.