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Tight End
A high school football player believes the harassment he is experiencing on and off the field is due to his father's prison record.
137 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1981
12 people are currently reading
71 people want to read
About the author
Matt Christopher
467 books141 followersMatt Christopher is the writer young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. He is the best-selling author of more than one hundred sports books for young readers.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
January 24, 2012
The story "Tight End" is about a boy named Jim who is a really good football player and really struggles with his grades and many family problems. Jim's father is in prison. When Jim's Father returns from prison Jim's family is in danger. None of Jim's teammates want to play with Jim because his father has got out prison and some of Jim's friends think that Jim is a really bad person just because his father has gone to prison. Jim gets disturbing phone calls and he doesn't know who is calling him so his friend Margo tries to help Jim figure out who the caller is. When Jim figures out who the caller was he felt so much better and he could just concentrate on football and school. The reason why I chose this book was because I read the summary on the back and I thought it would be a good idea to read the book. My favorite quote from the story Tight End is when Jim asks Margo to help him figure out whose making those disturbing phone calls. It's my favorite quote in the story because Jim never asks anyone for help and finally he asks his friend Margo to help him. Matt Christopher has a really interesting writing style because in every book he teaches the reader something new and in this book I learned that just because one of your family members has gone to prison doesn't mean your a bad person. I would recommend this book to people who underestimate others. I learned a life lesson and I hope other readers do to.
May 5, 2015
Jim is a football player that isn't good with school and has problems at home. When his dad gets out of prison things get worse. Now his teamates dont want to practice with him because they think he is as bad as his father. Then he starts getting calls by some random person and tries to get help from a friend. Eventually they find the caller and he feels better at school and on the football field.
November 16, 2019
When first reading this book I was determined to discover who was making threatening phone calls to Jim and when his playing in practice, but despite all this he and Marcia figured out that it was Jordan the photographer and sportswriter for the school where after riding bikes one day Jim accidentally hurt his leg which prevented him from playing. Matt Christopher really yet again as always scored a touchdown with this book because he's always able to accurately describe the sports action
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August 23, 2020I didn't particularly like this book when I was 11. I gave it 2 stars back then.
January 31, 2022
Matt Christopher never dissapoints
May 24, 2011
Jim is a great athlete and the main character which opens up the story. He only lives with his mom and sister. His dad is in prison. The dad returns from prison which leads their family into trouble. Everyone is saying “why don’t you get smart?” Jim then realizes that no one wants to play with or against him because his dad just got out of prison. As this is all happening, Jim’s grades are not doing well, and his family is having hard times getting back to normal with his dad back into the picture. Also a lot of harassing phone calls that are making his family upset. Margo, Jim’s friend tries to help him through this, but its not working.
The main conflict is the threatening phone calls to Jim’s family and how their family and him go downhill.
I would recommend this book to everyone. Whether you like football or not its a great book. This book feels like you could get right into the game and play.
The main conflict is the threatening phone calls to Jim’s family and how their family and him go downhill.
I would recommend this book to everyone. Whether you like football or not its a great book. This book feels like you could get right into the game and play.
October 15, 2010
Jims, family is having a difficult time readjusting to life now that his father is out of prison. Football is the only time when Jim can forget his troubles. But even that turns sour when soeone starts making anonymous phone calls suggesting Jim isn't welcome on the term Jim is determined to find out who the caller is.
November 14, 2011
Tight End was a good book. Matt Christopher really made it to where we could picture it. He also really described feelings. And I really liked how you could feel his emotions when he missed a catch or tackle.
May 8, 2009
Great kids sports writer!
September 20, 2010
Great book
October 15, 2010
I thhink this is a good book. It is about this guys dad who get out of prison. They the kid starts getting phone call and letters. Then he is trying to figure out who it is.
April 14, 2015
scary and well really good all at once.
February 24, 2013
A great Matt Christopher book.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews