Game Changers

 Game Changers is a novel by Mike Lupica. It is was published in February of 2013. It is about middle school basketball and focuses on the ups and downs of a typical season. The book is meant for 8th graders, but a sixth grader could easily understand it.

  The author wrote the book in a first person point of view, using Ben Mcbain to tell the story. Ben, a 12 year old, is the main character of the story. He is somewhat short, but has a fierce drive to succeed.  The book focuses mainly on Ben and his team's season, which is a roller coaster ride. The middle school crowd is Lupica's intended audience, judging from the simple sentence structures and lack of subtlety. This book is a sports novel. The book fits in to this genre because it is all about the sport of basketball and the struggle to prevail. Lupica kept me interested by writing a book I could relate to because I play basketball, and because I am short, just like Ben. This was an important connection I could make, otherwise, I would have just turned the book back into the library. Unfortunately  Lupica writes in a monotonic style. He uses the same phrases and metaphors over and over again, at times driving the reader nuts. This style is not effective, but the plot is so interesting, and cancels out the repetitive language.

 Game Changers did hardly affected me at all, it was just another book that I completed. Since the book is about basketball, it didn't really change my world view, as basketball is not very important. But it did teach me how to be a better sportsman than I already am. The book definitely brought up memories of other books I have read. I have read most if not all of Mike Lupica, and the storyline is the exact same as all the other books he has written. He always writes about a boy who plays a sport, and has the odds stacked against him. The boy always has a best friend that is an athletic girl, and a loyal teammate who he usually hurts in some way, until he apologizes.

 This book is not overly spectacular, but is somewhat enjoyable. It is not the best sports book I have read, nor is it the worst. It was simply mediocre. I would recommend this book to someone who loves basketball, as someone who doesn't might not enjoy the book.

Jacob Chapman 12/16/13

Final Rating: 3/5 ***