My Underrated Year

by Randy Powell

Roger Ottosen finds his sophomore year turned upside-down by the arrival of twins--Paul, who becomes a rival for a position on the varsity football team, and Mary, who not only competes with Roger on the tennis court, but also becomes the object of his infatuation.Roger Ottosen finds his sophomore year turned upside down by the arrival of twins--Paul, who becomes a rival for a position on the varsity football-team, and Mary, who not only competes with Roger on the tennis court, but also becomes the object of his infatuation

Library Binding

First published January 1, 1988

About the author

I've lived in Seattle all my life -- since 1956. I live here now with my wife, Judy, and our two sons, Eli and Drew. I like the outdoors, books, fresh crab and raw oysters, and rain.

As a kid, I was crazy about sports. All sports. When I wasn't playing the real thing, I was playing some imaginary form of it. I wasn't a great athlete, just obsessed. I peaked when I was eleven. Our little league football team won the city championship, and the coach gave me the game ball. I lost that ball a few years later. I'm still looking for it.
I had fun reading and writing. When I found a book I liked, I threw myself into it, into the main character's skin. I'd try to write in the author's style. Writing was hard work, but what a rush it gave me, coming up with the right phrase, finishing a piece and feeling it click, reading it to the class and getting some laughs.

In high school, in the early 1970s, my hero was Arthur Ashe, the tennis pro. I concentrated on tennis and worked hard at it, but not hard enough. Today it's still my game of choice, and I still don't work hard enough.

High school is also where I became serious about writing. I became even more so in college, at the University of Washington. I made two trips to Europe, worked summers in Alaska as a deckhand on a fishing boat, and wrote short stories, novels, and even formula romances.

After college, I got a job teaching at an alternative school for junior high and high school dropouts. I taught for four years and loved it, but finally left because it ate up my writing time.

My breakthrough in writing came when I learned to look inside myself and write about the things I cared and felt deeply about. I guess it was only natural that my first published novel, "My Underrated Year", should be about a high school football and tennis player. Yes, there's a lot of myself in that book, although hardly any of the incidents actually happened. That's true of my other books as well.

I enjoy visiting schools and talking to students about writing. I also love hearing from readers. You can write to me in care of my publisher, Farrar, Straus and Giroux. I promise I'll write back!

Reviews

[Nathan Togstad · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Response: My Underrated year was a story about a boy that had high hopes. The book was not necessarily full of action by any means. Throughout the year, Roger grew as a person. He realized that nothing worthwhile was just given to him. When I first picked up the book, I figured it would just be about football. When I realized the other half was about tennis, I almost stopped reading the book. If I knew what the book was about before I was reading it, I never would have picked it up.



Plot: Roger was an athletic kid. As a sophomore in high school, he was almost guaranteed a spot on the Varsity football team. When someone new roles into town, his chances dropped. Roger was faster than him, but Mountain was strong. Mountain beat him out on varsity, but Roger had something that made it a little better. The new girl recognized Roger from the tennis club. Roger liked her, even though they barely knew each other. Roger got the chance to return punts on varsity. He did well until his last catch. He tried to run it back for the first time and fumbled. He almost lost them the game. He went to a party after and made Mary Jo angry when he was drunk. The last game of the football season came, and he was on varsity again. He won the game by catching the last pass in the end zone. Then he went to the football banquet. He got the award for most underrated.

Now he could focus on tennis. He saw how good Mary Jo was, so he wanted tennis lessons. He worked to build the strength to beat her. She already beat everyone ranked but him, he knew that the game was coming. When they played, it was a long and brutal match. In the end, He beat Mary Jo. After the last match, he went to have a Coke with Mary Jo.



Characterization: Roger was the kind of kid that was given everything. His parents were rich, so he never really had to work. When someone took his “guaranteed” spot on varsity, he almost quit football. When he ran into his first minor problem, he contemplated running in front of a car. He managed to live through this great tragedy, and he powered through and got his chance on varsity. He felt terrible when he almost lost them the game. The next time, he proved himself and won them the game. When he went to see if he could get tennis lessons, Snapper told him how it was. He said if he wanted something, he needed to actually work for it. Nothing worthwhile is just given away. After he practiced, Roger grew as a person and realized that winning isn't everything.



Impacts of Setting: Roger was born into a rich family in the rich neighborhood of Clover Park. This is why he played tennis. In the summer, the only practice Roger got was he ran up a huge hill. He never devoted a bunch of time to football. When he was in school, he was shocked that he was not on Varsity for running back. On Thanksgiving there was a home game. It was his shot at varsity for punt returning. He did well until the last punt. When Winter break came around, Roger actually did something to prepare for the sport. Practicing in his old spot brought memories about becoming good at tennis. When he was playing his game against Mary Jo, the sun was intense. The tennis court was surrounded by people, which wasn't helping from Roger sweating. If Roger’s parents were not so wealthy, he would not have had the same opportunities that he did.



Recommended Audience: This book would be a great book for kids in Roger’s situation. Around freshman and sophomore year is when they try to make a name for himself. Kids around the age of 14 would get a lot from this book. The book is probably geared towards a male audience, but that doesn't mean that females wouldn’t get something from the book. It shows woking is the best way to accomplish something.

[JACOB YOUNG · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Response: I didn’t think this book was amazing. I felt as if the storyline was really obvious. I could predict what was going to happen. However it wasn’t an awful book. It could have been interesting if it was less predictable.

Plot: Roger was just starting his Sophomore year. He had a lot of plans for his football team, and for himself in tennis. Roger was shocked to find out he wouldn’t be playing on the varsity football team. He decided to quit the team if he wasn’t going to be on Varsity. He didn’t want to keep going to practice if he wasn’t going to play. He took up smoking and tried to hide it from his parents. He finally had a plan to work on his tennis and try to make it to the state tournament. He practiced everyday and was at the club for most of the day. He found out that someone else was trying to make it to state. It was one of his friends Mary Jo. She was really good. He had to be beat her. They had a match and she beat him. It made him practice even harder. When they finally have their match Roger wins. Everyone was happy for him they had a big party for his win. Mary Jo congratulated him and they were still friends.

Character:Roger was the main character of the story. He had brown hair and was very athletic. He played sports like football and tennis. Mary Jo was the other tennis player Roger was competing with. She had blonde hair. Her father always pushed her to do sports and excel at them. She was naturally talented and always did well right at the start.

Setting: The story took place in the town of Clover. Roger attended Hillside High School. He played tennis at Clover Park. The town was very small. Everybody knew when people were doing sports. That's what drew the crowd to the tennis match.

Theme: The theme to this story was don’t give up on yourself. Roger was disappointed, because he didn’t make varsity football. He gave up on it and started to give up on sports. His step dad finally got him to go after tennis and try to get to state. Roger did and he trained for it and made it.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to both genders. It has a storyline that balances sports and relationships. I would recommend this to anyone over 13. It was really easy to read, but some of the things would be easier to understand if you were slightly older.

[Johnathancox · Rating 4 out of 5]

I actually liked this book. You could kind of relate because it was about a sophomore boy who is trying to make varsity football, and he honks he is going to and has a pretty good chance but then a new kid comes and he has to try really hardto make the varsity team and is a really good golfer. I like this book way better than the previous one because the other one was kinda in the middle of a series so I was kinda lost to some of the references it made.

[JennyC]

MY UNDERRATED YEAR by Randy Powell. This story takes place in a town called Clover Park and Roger Ottosen is the center of the book. This book caught my eye when i read the first few pages.

Roger Ottosen was number one when it came to tennis, he also hoped to make the varsity football team as a sophomore. Everything seemed to be going well for him until Paul Mountain and Mary Jo Mountain moved to Clover Park. Paul and Roger both fought for the spot on the varsity team, only one of them would get it. If all else failed and he didn't make it he still had being number one at tennis to fall back on.. that was until Mary Jo was "unbeatable". The twins gave Roger a hard time, and as much as he wanted to beat Mary Jo in tennis he had the biggest crush on her. There's a lot of twist and turns in this story.

Once you read the book you'll have a pretty good idea of how it will end. They try to throw you off a little bit but if you take pieces out of the story you'll understand before the ending gets there. There's a lot of competition but also a lot of feelings.

I really enjoyed this book. I usually wouldn't read it because it talked about about sports which aren't really my thing, but it also had a lot of drama and romance which made it good to me. If you like football, tennis, drama, or romance this is a book I would recommend to you.