TIME OUT!

by Phil Canalin

Kelsey Chinn and her BFFs are elated to make the freshman girls basketball team for legendary Westside High. Then COVID-19 and a bullying old coach cancel their dreams of playing in their first Warrior hoops season. The girls are stunned when they are abruptly dismissed with zero chance to compete, but don't ever say 'No way' to these teammates. They refine their game on the only court available – the Chinn's DIY driveway hoop – and when the virus suddenly strikes down the Varsity squad, an improbable opportunity emerges. To run with it, the teammates will have to brace against the pandemic, support a grieving friend, struggle with a conceited older teammate, and stand together against the abusive coach and Westside's arch-nemesis. Wielding high basketball IQs, trust and friendship, plus a touch of hoops magic, the young BFFs morph into an uncanny, mystical basketball team beyond words -- literally. Will it be enough to soar to the school's rescue? An epic fail seems certain but...c'mon, this one's for the Gods of Hoop! Bring it on!

258 pages, Paperback

Published September 8, 2024

About the author

Phil Canalin is a retired Alameda County Public Health finance officer, once assigned to the noted Alameda County Health Care for the Homeless Program. He also is an author of fiction, short stories, poetry, and children’s stories, now focused on MG, YA and Childrens fiction.. His latest publication TIME OUT! is an MG/YA crossover book about friendship, trust and being seen and heard, all wrapped around a girls basketball team. Invisible Society Fables was his first published short story collection based on his rare opportunities to observe, work with, and speak to homeless people. Phil’s first published novel was titled Slow Pitch Softball – More Than Just A Game. He also has a published children’s book, Just Hug A Bubble!, and collaborated on a cookbook project with his wife, Sue, Dinner at the Sonneman’s. Phil resides in Benicia, CA with Sue, his high-school sweetheart and wife of 45 years. His family includes 2 daughters, their spouses, and three grandchildren, who live in Hawaii and NorCal. Phil grew up loving Aesop’s Fables and The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show’s Fractured Fairy Tales and Aesop & Son.

Reviews

[Katie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A MUST-READ for any basketball lover. This YA novel follows a group of teens navigating life, school, basketball and friendships during the COVID pandemic. I quickly fell in love with the dynamic between the girls on the team, and also remembering the 5+ years I played on a basketball rec league growing up- Such great memories. I’d easily recommend this one to anyone with a love for the sport, and also as a quick escape to understand how some student athletes may have felt during a crucial time of upheaval in the world.

A favorite part, simple but beautiful and to-the-point; a lesson for us all:
P198: “Just trust your instincts… Don’t worry about what anyone else thinks. You’re a good player. Hell, girl, don’t be so afraid to at least try.”

[Ayezu Tamarapreye Okoko · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book:-Time out by Phil Canalin

I read the sample on Amazon on the recommendation of rogue press team

It is a fictional story about Kelsey Chinn and her fellow high school varsity colleagues of West high girls basketball team.It tells us injury time ,sickness or illhealth for an athlete is time out and healing is a come back.It enunciates the need for sports enthusiasts to take cautionary measures to be healthy.The book uses precautionary measures of the players and their coach against COVID to tell the point