Breakthrough

Red Zone #2

by A. L. Priest

Efram, the new kid, never played football until Coach recruited him. Flick, the outsider, is really too small to play, but he has an uncanny ability to read the field. Together, they'll put the Trojan's on a winning path.

104 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Alonzo · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Breakthrough” by A.L. Priest, was an entertaining book for the low amount of pages it has. I definitely recommend reading this book if you have a little bit of spare time and want to read about a boy who became a football player.
The main character Efram, was forced to move to Troy, Ohio, because his mom needed a job. He was very large in size compared to the rest of the students and was instantly recruited by a football coach to play football for the Trojans football team. Efram met a short kid named Flick in the hallways of the school, they talked about what their interests were and ended up having a lot in common with each other. They became friends, they started hanging out after school and played video games together.
I can’t say much more about the book or else I would be spoiling it, I highly recommended reading this book, there is so much that happens in this book that makes me want to read more and more.

[Wes Flease · Rating 5 out of 5]

Plot Summary: This book was about a young boy who was moved away from his home and friends. His first day of his new school was great. He met a new friend who shared the same interest. The football coach also asked him to be apart of the team. Eframe, the new kid, was very big and active. He was a natural at football. The team had their first game, which they lost, but Eframs friend helped the team win all their other games. The team became very good at football and thrived.

Personal Response: This book was very good, except for the ending. The book was full of action and intense football games. It also related to my school, which was nice. The one thing I didn't like was that the book ended right after a game and nothing else happened. I also think the author could have used more characters.

Recommendation: This book should be read by people who have an interest in football. I think it could be read by anyone in high school and middle school. It is more directed towards guys, but it could be read by girls too.

[Josue Rojas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response

Personally, this book was really enjoyable. Breakthrough was one of those book that shows that a person doesn’t need a lot of friends to have fun. The author really shows a strong friendship with Efram and Flick. Throughout the book, Efram shows that he only needs one friend because that one friend will care more about him than having a lot of friends. I can relate to that because myself and Javier have been friends since first grade, and we have been really close.

Plot

The book starts out with Efram, a new student,who is just starting to attend Trojan High School. As soon as Efram steps into the school, the school’s head coach wants him to join football since Efram’s body is built for football. Efram has never played football, since his mom is really concerned about the great health of Efram. Efram does everything he can to join football. Finally, his mom lets him play and then the reader sees Efram gearing up for practice.

Characterization

Efram starts out as a kid who no one knows about. He has only one friend and his name is Flick. Efram has a good connection with him and as the book continues their friendship gets even stronger. Throughout the book, Efram starts to become more notice since he is in football. Flick also started out as a kid who only a couple of students know about. As the book progresses, more people start to notice him since he is helping the coaches with plays. Flick has never been in football but he is really good in knowing what the other team is running as plays.

Setting

The book takes place at Trojan, Ohio during the football season. It is important that it takes time during the football season because that's when Efram joins the football team. The book is mainly about football and it is the beginning of football for the book. Being a Trojan is really important because that where Efram first starts to play in a sport and where he meets his best friend: Flick. It is also important Efram came to Trojan because that's when Flick got more known by people.

Recommendation

I would have to recommend this book to anyone who is really interested in football. The book is more based to middle schoolers but it is great for any age. This book is great for a reader who wants to read something that is easy and fast to read. I gave this book a solid 4 star rating. I rated a 4 star rating because it those have football and it show friendship.

[Elizabeth Mendoza · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I picked out to read was “Breakthrough” by A.L. Priest. In this book we find out our main character has to move away from his hometown because his mom has to go somewhere else for work. Efram (The main character) is new to Troy, Ohio.He moves to a town where football is everything.The football coach at his new school approached Efram and asked him to join the team because he has a good build. But a problem came up which is his mom would never let him play because it’s too dangerous. My initial reaction to this book was I thought it was gonna be interesting and it would be nice to learn more about football. It did hook me immediately because it shows two peoples' perspectives and the last time I read a book that told the perspective of other people it became my favorite book of all time. How they try to solve this problem is that the coach says he can get a scholarship if he lets them help him become a good player and it would solve the problem of paying for college. The mom gives in and one of the many problems is solved. A character who really stuck out was Flick(Eframs best friend), he never gave up and supported Efram a lot and I just really liked how he developed and built up confidence. A quote I like that he said was “Just underneath your breaking point lies your true strength.” The most suspenseful part was when they were gonna go against their biggest rival. My initial impressions of the book was it was gonna be about football and learning about it which it was and that’s one thing I really liked because that’s the whole point on why I picked out that book. It was very easy for me to read because there weren't many “big” words and also there were like one-huread pages. I finished my book. A quote that stuck out to me is “Be the sun breaking through the clouds.” which was said by Eframs coach. I really liked the ending because it was satisfying. I would give it a four out of five because some parts did get a little boring but nothing was bad about the book. Someone who I would think would like this book is people who are trying to learn about football and of course football fans that are young.

[Colin Q · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was much like the first book in the series and that their wasn't very many interesting points that really wanted you to read more of the book. Plus when I think of a good book about football I really want it to be mostly around the great sport of football. Another thing is that I couldn't ever find out who was the main characters because it keep introducing new people. Besides these points it was a okay book. Their was also a very good part about how Efram was running all over the field trying to get throw a open spot in the defense. I really liked this part because throw out the sequence of this happening all the players on the team were trying to get him to go down the field and sore to win the football game.

Once I really focused in and really read in on the story line and also do not mind reading some things over twice then I really liked the book. Also the reason that I'm giving it such a low rating is because their were to many things going on at that it was hard to understand all the points. I would recommend this book to someone who really is interested on a story about what is like being on a high school football team and what it is like off the field for a player.

[Dasean Jenkins]

This book makes me think that you should try something new. The book talks about how the kid that just moved to Troy, Ohio never played sports in his entire life. This happened to me when I moved to lugoff. I never played sports until I seen kids playing football during rec season. When I started playing that's when I start loving the game. You do something that makes you be proud of yourself for. In the story Efram had to convince his mom to play the dangerous sport.

[Blease Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

Efram is new to town. He meets Flick and quickly realizes he is a master coach in a kid's body. Flick eventually sneaks onto the sidelines ot help the football team win. The coach gives Flick a spot on the coach roster and is ashamed of letting Coach Colby be outdone.

[Mason Koons · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a great book it's building suspense for the later books in the series

[Eric · Rating 4 out of 5]

Efram James the talented bulky high schooler moves to Troy, Ohio, a town were football is everything. On the first day of school the football teams head coach observes Efram and realized he is the perfect size for football. The coach new he would be a key asset to the team and could help a lot. The coach introduces himself to Efram to try to recruit him, but Efram does not think his mom will allow to play such a violent sport. Efram is yet nervous but excited to try football for the first time, the coach is thrilled to see what Efram is able to do on the football field.
The Redzone series is action packed throughout all 6 of the books. With the excitement through school and football this book is great for children ages 10 to 14. I though the book was very interesting and I just couldn't stop reading it. The book tells how Efram goes from doing good at school to being a star on the football field. Through out school Efram meets a kid names Flick and slowly become bestfriends. Flick uses his intelligence to help Efram study the other teams plays so Efram can help his team out to win. Read this book to join Efram and Flick on their wild adventures together.

[Lane Nett · Rating 3 out of 5]

Response: I liked this book because it was about football. There was a lot of action in this book. It is also one of the many books in the series, and all are great.-One reason the book had action was because efram always hit his opponents hard. There was also a little suspense because Flick always had to be ready for the other teams hand signals.
Plot summary: There is this new kid named Efram, he had never played football before, only rock climbing and other (granola sports). But on his first day of school The football coach tells him to go out for football because of his size. He also meets a friend that is really smart, that's Flick. So they team up and they win all of there games but one of the coaches finds out that flick is coaching them, but the other one wants to win so they let flick on the team.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book for ages 10 to 14 and both genders. This book is great, but it is a little easy to read. The book was very good though, it was also very interesting and always kept me reading.

[Paula · Rating 2 out of 5]

This title is one of The Red Zone series books that are all set in suburban Troy, Ohio, with football as the vehicle for driving the plots. It tells the story of two boys: Efram, a well-built high-schooler, new to the town and with an overprotective mother and Flick, a loner, smaller than most and sporting a Mohawk. Being new to Troy, Efram catches the coach’s eye with his sturdy football build and is immediately promoted to the team even though he has never played a down of football. Flick, on the other hand, is too small to be an effective player, but he has the exceptional ability to decode opposing teams’ signals. Together the two make things happen on the field. The plot moves to a predictable end, and with the usual high school teen angst, you have a quick read that is appealing to middle and high school boys, especially reluctant readers. This high/low title fills several needs for secondary readers. It would be a good choice for any library.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second installment of The Red Zone series focusing on the Trojan football team in Ohio, this one focuses on Efram, a new player on the team, who has moved from another state, doesn't have a lot of money, and is recruited because of his size. The mother relents, allows him to play but he's picked on for his friendship with an oddball black kid named Flick (George Frederick Washington), who is a chess genius and, like Efram, a gamer.

Flick decodes the other team's hand signals to know what their plays are and at first, the "too hot to trot" football coach-- who appears in each of the books-- is annoyed and pissed-- only to then make Flick a member of the team to harness his 'power'.

This one has a bit of depth in this friendship between two kids.

[Banks]

I thought the book was Alright,it wasn't the best for me.There wasn't enough interesting things that happens to grab my attention.I didn't enjoy it much but i would still recommend this book if you like sports.