Rise Above

Red Zone #6

by Shannon Knudsen

Darius Burns is a second-stringer for the Troy Central High Trojans, but lately he's been stepping up his game. He even has a shot at the team's starting halfback spot. The biggest thing in his way is a guilty conscience. Because Darius hasn't improved through hard work alone. He's also getting "nutritional supplements" from an assistant coach.

Soon Darius is reading about nasty side effects and worrying about his health. But if he goes to Troy Central's head coach, will he blow his chance to play in the state championship―or even cost his team the victory?

104 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2014

About the author

This author also writes as Shannon Zemlicka.

Reviews

[Josue Rojas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response

Rise Above is a book that football players can really relate. Football players can relate because it has players that are second string and players that are starters. Personally, I can relate to the book since I have played football and I have been a starter. Since I have been a starter, I had to defend my starting position. The second string players always bust their butts off in order to get the starting position.

Plot

The plot of the book is about a football team that wants to win state. The head coaches will do anything in order to win. The assistant coach makes a group that is called Elite Warriors. The Elite Warriors get special treatment like a pill or a shot. One of the Elite Warriors ends up in the ER from taking this special pills and shots. Darius is worry about his friend. Darius friend is visit by the assistant coach and gets talk to so he doesn't tell anyone he was taking steroids and who help get them.




Characterization

Darius starts out as a football player who is a second string player. Daris works his butt off in order to start. He goes ham until he ends up getting the starting position. Darius gets the starting position with the help of the assistant coach. The coach hooked him up with these special pills. As the book continues, Darius stop taking the special pills and get sick and loses the starting position.

The assistant coach starts out as a coach who helps out by getting the players to improve their skills by themselves. As the book goes on and the games start getting harder, the assistant coach makes up a group called the Elite Warriors. The Elite Warriors receive special pills that make the games easier for the players. While the book continues, the assistant coach gets more aggressive with the players, since some players get sick and even one ends up in the ER.



Setting

It is important the book takes place at Trojan High School during the football season in present time. The location is important because the school always ends up at state since the school is well known for being the best football team. During the football season, the players work really hard to go to state. The team work hard even if they receive magical pills to make the players faster and stronger. The assistant coach is a huge part of the book, since he provides the magical pills.





Theme

The main theme for Rise Above is that the players get to figure out if it is worth playing with these special pill that the assistant coach is giving them. Since the Elite Warriors start
consuming the special pills, they are way stronger and way faster. The real question is, is it really worth taking these pills when it is getting teammates in the hospital. The most important part of the book is to win state. It is also important that the players are in good health conditions.

Recommendation

Overall all, I would recommend this book to athletes. The book talks about a football team that makes it to state. It explains how the team works really hard in order to make to state. The is mostly focused on high schoolers since there are parts in the book that middle schooler and younger grades wouldn’t understand. I give this book 5 out of 5, since the book has a lot of attention grabbers.

[Wes Flease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: I think Rise Above was a great book showing courage. The main character was faced with struggles to make the book more interesting. I think the book was written as a inspirational piece. Therefore making it a great book to read.

Plot Summary: This book was a great book of a teen playing football, but he and some of his teammates had a big secrete. Darius was just trying to have fun playing football, but he couldn't because of his coach pressuring him to take steroids. Darius finally has had enough and wont take the drug any more, but he is not felling good and his coach is furious. The team made it to the championships but the team feels they did not actually win. The coach was caught and couldn't return to practice and the team no longer took drugs and learned a big lesson.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book from anywhere between eighth through tenth grade. I would recommend it to them because this age group needs courage and this book shows that. I would also recommend it more for guys because it is a football book.

[Dakota Harrison · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Rise Above” is a really great book in my opinion. If you are one that likes football a lot like me, you would really be interested in this book. Also if you are one who doesn’t like to read big books, this book is only a 100 pages. Once you start this book, you will not want to put it down, and you will fly through it. This book will keep you interested and wondering if the team has what it takes to win the state championship.

“Rise Above” is great in a way that the reader can experience everything that happens in a boy’s football locker room. Darius is the main character in the book who is the third-string running back. They are in the playoffs on the way to winning a state championship. The starting running back then hurts his wrist and has to have surgery. Therefore the running back spot opens up and there is a competition for it between Ian the second-string and Darius the third-string. The coach then has all of his starters stay after practice and gives them some "supplements" that he says will be good for them. The thing is though he tells them to keep it between the starters and not to tell anyone. Darius starts noticing that he is getting stronger and all of his skills are getting better. He starts getting curious about what the supplement is so he starts researching. He then finds out some bad things about these so-called supplements and finds out they are actually illegal to take. The question is will Darius tell the other teammates and coaches and get them suspended from the games for illegal things or will he just keep it all in and stop taking the supplement himself?

[Nathan Craft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise Above is a book that most athletes would like. But if you do not understand the concept of high school football, you would not understand 90% of the book. The main character is someone who most people can relate to but is a little unreal in terms of the book. I would recommend this book to anyone if they understand football. The book is about hardships as a football player, and how the main character overcame them, and did the right thing.
With the amount of drug use in today’s society, Rise Above really puts that into perspective and shows how one character can persevere through peer pressure, and pressure with school. As a football player myself you can really get the full view of what it is like, and you can live the life that the character is living in the book. I gave this book a 5 star rating, because it was a great read and I enjoyed every page of the book. I would also recommend this book to others in the athlete life.
The book's characters are a little too vague, but the main character is really put out on the spotlight, I wish it did go further into the past of the main character, but I still enjoyed the book. The book is a low lexile level, but you can still believe the story as if you’re living it. Overall I really enjoyed the book and pretty much any athlete would too. If there was a sequel would read that also.

[Dominic · Rating 5 out of 5]

A high school boy named Darius is fighting for the starting spot at the half back position for Troy Central High Trojans. He needs to improve a lot to be the better running back. So to help the team out the coach gave the team “nutritional supplements” from the assistant coach Kramer. It turns out that the “nutritional supplements” are actually steroids to help the kids gain muscle and strength. The other running back had to go to the hospital and will not be able to play football again.
Rise Above is a great story, because it is intense and very detailed about everything. This book is very action packed to the point where I actually felt like I was Darius Burns. The book is from Darius’s perspective so it was even more realistic. I recommend this book to anyone especially those who like football.

[Banks · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thought this book was very interesting.I was never bored while reading it and there was a lot of ups and downs for the characters in the book.I was on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what was going to happen next.I would recommend this book to anyone because it can relate to people in life but i would especially suggest this book to people who like sports.

[Dasean Jenkins · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book makes me think about my own high school football career. It talks about how a high school kid who plays running-back became a starter for his football team after always being the backup second-string player. It reminds me of when I was in 9th grade last year on JV and then I got moved up on Varsity for the last game. This book shows the dangers of performing enhancing drugs and makes me realize how only putting in the hard work matters. Don't hurt your body by trying to instantly make your body stronger.

[Jaden · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is about a high school football team that has a coach giving them steroids. The coach thinks he won't get in trouble for giving it to them. His cover was almost blown when one of the teammates stop taking them and passed out in the street. When he was in the hospital they took his blood test and it had the steroids in his blood. The coach was almost caught but the player took the blame and they had tested three other football players for the steroids.

[Keeten Rippy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rise Above is a great book if you're very interested in the sport of football. This is a story about a boy that is not a bad football player but a good player either. And something changes him all the sudden. I just really enjoyed this story, i read it in less than a day and still understood it. While I was reading the book I did learn a life lesson as well. When reading the book it just gets better and better as you read it. I couldn't put it down when I started. In the beginning of the story you will kinda start to understand the life lesson. He doesn’t feel so good at first and just starts to get worried and things. Then doesn’t know what to do. But, if you do read this book make sure you have a lot of free time because you’ll be hooked.

[Michael S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response
This book was a really good book if you like a short and easy book. It is a really easy book to follow the timeline. There is always a reason to keep going to find something out. You can read this book any time, and it is a fun book to read.
Plot Summary
This book is about a kid named Darius who play's football for Troy Central High. Their team has one more game till state and Darius is on the Elite Warriors practice team. After each practice all the Elite Warriors take pills or injections or roids. Darius doesn't think it's right after winning the game to state. He stops taking the injections and is starting to feel the symptoms kicking in after just stopping the injections. Find out if they win the Champion Ship and what happens to Darius.
Recommendation
This book is for more 8th graders and freshman. You can read it whenever you want and you can always understand the story line. If you like easy sport book that are a decent length this is the book for you.