Forward Pass

by Thomas J. Dygard, E. Law

To improve his struggling football team's chances of winning, Coach Gardner brings in a new wide receiver, Jill Winston

Genres: Sports

192 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

About the author

In His Own Words...

"I can't remember when I first started writing fiction. it was shortly after I began reading fiction, I'm sure.

"I've been a voracious reader for as long as I can remember. As a teenager, I read a lot of the same kinds of books I'm writing-the John R. Tunis sports stories, for example. I also read a lot of history when I was young-and I still do now. It's always fascinated me.

"When I was a high school senior, I was offered two jobs, both of the apprentice sort. One was in a commercial artist's studio, on a recommendation from my art teacher. The other was in the sports department of the local newspaper, following work on the school paper. I took the sportswriting job.

"For four years I worked for the Arkansas Gazette while attending the University of Arkansas, first at Little Rock and then at Fayetteville, covering football, baseball, basketball, boxing, golf, tennis-everything that made up the sports page. After graduation, I joined the Associated Press as a newsman at Little Rock and later worked in AP bureaus in Detroit, Birmingham, and New Orleans. Eventually, I was Chief of Bureau in Little Rock, Indianapolis, Chicago, and Tokyo, Japan. I retired from the Associated Press in 1993 and now live in Evansville, Indiana.

"For me, writing fiction is fun, relaxing, and satisfying-an enjoyable change of pace, a recharging of the batteries.

"My first young adult novel, Running Scared, got started one night in a motel room in Champaign, Illinois, when I had nothing else to do. Before long, the story had me in its grip. The creation of the thing was a fascinating experience. I liked the characters. I liked leading them through their problems to their triumphs. I kept going until one day it was finished.

"I did not set out to write for young people. Looking back, I think it was something of a blessing that 1 did not. As I wrote Running Scared, I imagined the reader as an adult, but after it was finished, it seemed more appropriate for young readers. The result, I think, was that the story did not talk down to teenagers. In every book I've written since, I've tried to keep the same approach."

Reviews

[Mackenzie Orlosky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book! Glad it wasn't about Jill's issue off the field or with her annoying sister, but more about her as a player and the team as a whole!

[Mr. Skipper's GT Cafe]

one copy

[Orange0219 · Rating 5 out of 5]

Forward Pass, by Thomas J. Dygard, is about a high school football team, the Aldridge Panthers. They barely managed to win half their games last season, as they lacked a talented wide receiver. After watching an Aldridge girls’ basketball game, the new coach, Frank Gardner, came up with a crazy idea. Jill Winston could make miraculous catches on a basketball court. Why not move her to a football field?
After consenting her parents, Jill decided to give it a shot. She secretly practices with the quarterback and coach to prepare. After struggling to win their first game, Frank Gardner decides it is time to bust out their secret weapon during their second game. Jill did not receive many passes, but just having the threat when passing helped the Panthers. Jill helped the Panthers conquer two of their toughest opponents, and lead the team on a six and zero start. With a guaranteed playoff spot and only three games left, Jill decided it was time to go back to basketball.
I enjoyed the book Forward Pass because sports is one of my favorite genres. Thomas J. Dygard throws many twists and turns into this novel to make it exciting and hard to predict what is coming next. If you are a sports fan, or just enjoy reading sports novels, Quarterback Walk - On is a great choice for you!

[Kyle Dierks · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is about a football team that sucks and they always loose and then later on in the book a new girl comes to there school and she is really good at catching footballs so she goes out for football and everyone thinks that she is going to get hurt and they are like making fun of her and stuff and then she turns out to be really good and she is really fast and all the people on the team is really impressed and so are the coaches so she gets to start on the team and she is really good and the team just keeps on winning and they are really good and eventually they beat a lot of teams and they eventually go to state and they win but it was a miracle.
I would recommend this book if you like football and are in to sports and things like that. Its a pretty good book but not the best plus it is an older book also so that could be some reason but I would give this book three stars for a rating.

[Anthony Leonard · Rating 5 out of 5]

Coach Frank Gardner has a great quarterback, great running running back, a great line, and a strong defense. The problem? He doesn't have a wide receiver. Until he convinces Jill an athlete on the girls basketball team to be their secret wide receiver. She is for it, but he has to convince the principal of the school, Jill's parents and the team to accept her as a football player. Will he convince everyone it is a good idea for Jill to play football? Will they have another losing season? If Jill plays will she really be the key player for the team to win it all? You have to find out for yourself and read Forward Pass by Thomas J. Dygard.

[Neill Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Aldridge Panthers have a great running team but absolutely no passing offence. It isn't that quarterback Scott Butler can't pass - he just has no capable receivers. Then, at a girls' basketball game coach Frank Gardner spots an amazing athlete who can also catch - Jill Winston. Now he needs to find a way to allow a girl to play wide receiver.