Fight like a falcon

by Philip Harkins

Genres: Young Adult

223 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 1961

About the author

Philip Harkins attended the University of Grenoble, and the School of Political Science in Paris. Upon finishing high school, he became a world traveler, and worked as a reporter, and as a semi-pro hockey player. For most of his life, however, he was a freelance writer, mostly of works for children.

Reviews

[Lynn · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is the type of book I would have read as a boy. It's about sports, but also about personal character and achievement. It is a satisfying read, but a little bit too simple. The young man, Neal Davis, is first seen playing football for his high school team in California. He is intrigued by a visiting airman from the Air Force Academy. Neal feels challenged to try to gain admission to the Academy and, of course, he succeeds by his work and perseverance.
The book goes on much the same: challenge, effort, success. Neal never really loses in the book, and the book ends before we can find out how his college and football career end. (The Falcons never lose a game in which he plays in the book.) Still I enjoyed seeing how his work and dedication paid off.
The one football fault I found was that the teams frequently punted on 3rd down.