Touchdown Kid

by Tim Green

From New York Times bestselling author and former NFL defensive end Tim Green comes a football story about a boy who is given a chance to prove that wealth and privilege don’t matter on the football field, as long as he has the skills to compete. Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica!

Cory has always been passionate about football. But life for him and his single mom has been hard, making it difficult for Cory to play. And though Cory is a good kid, he’s constantly surrounded by negative influences. But when the coach from an elite private school with one of the best football programs in the country recognizes his talents on the field, Cory is presented with an unbelievable opportunity.

Cory knows that football could be his ticket out. But leaving to attend private school also means struggling to fit into a world where most people look at him and just see a scholarship kid from the wrong side of town. Cory knows that if he can fight hard enough—both on and off the field—he may be able to secure a bright future that looks different from his unpromising past.

Genres: Sports, Fiction, Middle Grade, Football

319 pages, Kindle Edition

First published October 3, 2017

About the author

Tim Green, for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and a dozen suspense novels, including Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come. Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round NFL draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors. Tim has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and as an NFL commentator for National Public Radio, among other broadcast experience. He lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. Football Genius is his first novel for young readers. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/authortimgreen

Reviews

[Kristi Lamont · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent for what it is. Good sports book, good tweenage coming of age book, helpful to both kids and the adults in their lives when it comes to understanding that some feelings are universal. (And, ahem, sometimes adults need reminding of exactly how tough things can be when one is in junior high.....)

I came to read this book because one of my twin 11-year-old nephews had borrowed it from a friend, and I was at my sister’s house when said nephew brought it home. He hadn’t started it, so I picked it up, much to his chagrin. “Aunt Kristi, don’t read my book!” And then he realized he was talking to the aunt who had helped him develop the habit of reading at night past his bedtime......

So now I will give the child back his/his friend’s book, as promised. And I will look for other books by Mr Green to read, both for enjoyment and a sports education. And to understand the men in my life, no matter their age, just a little bit better.

[4 trending upward]

[Hunter 2-3 · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book touchdown kid is a great book. It is a fast moving book and there was action through out the whole book. The main character Cory never gives up even though he is okay at football. Something happened to his friend Liam that changes his football life for the good. He has to learn to keep fighting when you are down and to over come problems that most kids can't do.

[Allie · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was more dynamic than I expected. This wasn't just about football and friendship. But I never felt fully connected to the characters. That is where this book fell short for me. There were times where I just kept wanting to turn the pages to see what would happen, so it was an enjoyable read. I just wish that the characters were more developed.

[Jaysen A. · Rating 3 out of 5]

it was interesting but not enough for a 4 star

[Ryan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think a possible theme for this book is always try your best. Cory tries his best in this book by playing his heart out on the field. Cory works so hard he is invited to a great football school called HBS. He soon learns there is competition to get the starting spot so he works hard and gets it. Cory later works hard to help his team win games and make friends at his new school.

[Ethan · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Touch Down Kid I found was a very good read, because it is a very easy read and appeals to most people, and it holds your attention like glue. I found that the content in the book can be inspirational to all sportsmen, because the content in the book applies to all sports, not just football, because the moral of the story can be applied in multiple ways. Even though that the book has its inspirational features doesn’t mean that there isn’t any action, and a good climax point. The reason that this can hold your attention so well is simply because the action scenes are scripted so well that it makes you feel like your there standing beside the TOUCHDOWN KID catching the game winning pass, because it’s so easy to imagine the scenes because of the description of the scenes. It doesn’t matter whether he’s on the field or in his house with his mom you will always be able to understand the text and picture the scenes. It helps that the book is not only about football but also about his own personal life, this helps you understand more about the characters in the book and what his life is like. I feel that this book is a good read for most because it doesn’t just follow the story of a kid that plays football, even though it is based around football, it includes multiple aspects of his life that are described to a point that it makes it feel like you're there in the story. I highly recommend this book for others readers because of the quality of the writing.

[Mary Jane]

I submitted my entry to win the Touchdown Kid in the hopes of getting it for my 12 year old grandson.
According to him it was a great read and he was thrilled that I won it for him
Thanks so much for all the great opportunities to win books both for myself and my grandchildren
Keep up the good work

Sincerely

Mary Jane Johnson

[Nate · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read Touchdown Kid By Tim Green. This book is about a kid named Cory who lives a tough life on the streets of the westside, with his friend Liam. The only thing that made Cory happy is football. He had always dreamed of going to this Football School called “HBS”. He played on a REC football team where he was the 5th string Running Back on the depth chart while his friend Liam was the Starting Running Back. Cory trained really hard, and worked his way up the depth chart to the 3rd String Running Back! Soon enough, his team had a game where the HBS Scouts were watching. During the game, his Best Friend got injured. He felt really bad, but it was finally his time to shine, or was it? The Coach for his REC team decided to put in the other Running Back in the game instead of Cory, but Luckily Cory, he also got injured. This was Cory's only chance to show everybody how good he really was, and he capitalized on it. He scored 3 touchdowns in a row! The HBS Scout was actually impressed and offered him a scholarship to go there. Although Cory's Mom was not a fan of it at first, she eventually agreed to let Cory go to his dream school!

I liked this book a lot for a variety of reasons. One of which was that this book was so unpredictable. This book was a rollercoaster of different moments all stacked up together. For example, Cory scored his first ever touchdown at HBS, and then suddenly the Police took him to the Police Office to be questioned about his Westside friends who stole $300k worth of jewelry from Cory’s legal guardian letting him live with them at HBS. So random yet so intriguing.

Another reason It was about a topic that I liked this book much was because it was relatable and it was about a topic I like (Football). I learned what I actually like reading about while reading this book and now I like reading a lot more than I used to, which caused me to read more chapters every day than my mom told me to read. This book also had a lot of relatable and genuine moments inside of it. This book is an underdog story about a kid who loved football and believed in himself from the very beginning of his “career”.

If I were to rate the book on a scale from 1 to 10, I would 100% rate this a 10/10! This book changed my whole entire perspective on reading books and I will definitely read more books by this author. Fun Fact: The Author of this book was actually an NFL Player drafted in the first round of the 1986 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. This makes complete sense because there were a lot of hidden details in this book about football and just sports in general that I enjoyed reading about.

[Tyson I · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touchdown kid
By Tim Green
Tim Green is an amazing author he always does a great job writing sports books. I have read many of Tim Green’s books they are always amazing but the Touchdown Kid was one of my new favorites. This book affected me in many ways it showed me to never give up and always keep fighting. When Liam got hurt he stayed on the positive side and was talking about when he would be back. Then when Cory got hurt he did everything he could to get back into the game and he did it. This book was full of detail. There are many different plot twists and unexpected outcomes this was a great book written by an even better author. When the Mulliers got robbed the first suspect was Cory but it wasn’t him he rose up to the challenge. Even though everybody thought it was him he still played a great game.

The author uses some forms of foreshadowing in this book and can leave you at cliff hangers at times. He is a very mysterious and intense author. Like i said before there are many different plot twists in this book. One moment it is happy and the next it is sad or scary.”when Cory planted his bad angle he cried out in pain.” Its ok Cory i will be at HBS in two short years in the meantime you set the tone. In the first piece of textual evidence shows that cory was hurt ,but he was desperate to get back into the game he loved. In the second piece of textual evidence it shows that Liam stayed on the positive side and was talking about when he would be back.

Overall this was a great book I have always loved tim green and I think he writes great books I highly recommend this book to anyone especially if you are in sports or like to watch them or you just like sports in general. I liked this book because it was very intense if you like that kind of stuff then this is the book for you!! It was a very easy book not so easy but it was not hard to read at all. My favorite part was when Cory had an awesome game and scored 5 touchdowns it just made me happy. It made me think about my own football experiences.

[Carson · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Touchdown Kid by Tim Green is about a 12 year old boy that lives in a rough neighborhood on the west side of Atlanta Georgia with his best friend Liam. They both love football and have a dream to one day play in the National Football League and play for their hometown youth football league. Cory wants to get a scholarship to HBS which is a football school and he will face many challenges along the way to achieving his dream. The Touchdown Kid is a great book. Tim Green does a good job of portraying what kids in poor neighborhoods can go through and throughout the story makes the reader feel sympathy towards Cory and the rest of the kids even though they might have done something bad. Green does a good job of building suspense while making the reader want to turn to the next page and wonder what happened to Cory or one of the other characters. The book incorporates everything that a good story needs such as suspense, action, and drama which is why the book is a New York Times best seller. It is a good read for anyone who likes sports books and it could also be a good read for people who do not necessarily like sports because the story also is set outside of sports and based on a normal life and compares and contrasts a poor, rough westside neighborhood to the rich suburbs outside of the city. I recommend this book to any teenager who would like a sports book but also has normal life aspects to it and some drama and crime. It could also be a good book for middle schoolers who would like a book to read in their free time outside of school or even a book to read in school.

[Patrick Conley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Patrick Conley
Mrs. Heyer
English III
25 October 2018
Touchdown Kid
Touchdown Kid is a book about the struggles a young football player has set out to overcome. It’s a fairly fast-moving book and a good read for anyone that enjoys the sport of football or just sports in general. There are shorter chapters and a lot of action throughout the story. The main character Cory is also in a situation of his own. His best friend is the starting running back and has an offer from the private school in town. His mother is single, and he was told his father died in the military. I would recommend this book to a football player or a teenage that is interested in sports. I would rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars.
Cory is just a kid doing what he loves, playing football. His best friend Liam is the starting running back on the football team. Cory lives with only his mother and hadn’t seen his father since he was much younger. Cory happens to get a shot to be the running back in a game that happened to be the most important one he played in to date. He earns himself a scholarship to a prestigious private school in his area. Cory must adapt to a new style of life. He has received the highest award possible for him at the time and his fate is in his own hands. Read Touchdown Kid to find out if Cory crumbles under the pressure or rises to fame.

[KJay Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Touchdown Kid is about corey and his best friend liam who both loved football and always wanted to play HBS. The boys had wanted to play highs school football all their lives and now are finally about to get the chance. In my opinion i liked corey for his determination and love for the game. I also liked liam because he gave corey the support to keep pushing on. Liam had asked corey to go somewhere with him and it turns out he was going to break into a building and he wanted corey tobe watchout for the operation. A sudden injury happened and knocks liam from playing HBS and now his friend corey will get a chance to be on HBS.

This book was all around a good book it was about way more than football and friendship especially since Liam and Corey both come from somewhere that people don't usually get a chance at things or even get recognized for doing them. A good part was whenever liam got off the good path corey would remind him of their childhood dreams and what they have to do to accomplish them. One weakness about the book is that it took a few pages to get interesting and to show it´s true colors of not being just about sports. The strengths of this book was that when the book got interesting there weren't any cliff hangers it was a straight flow from then on and when you´re hooked you don't wanna stop reading.

[Jack Dismuke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Touchdown kid by Tim Green is a great book. It's about a 6th grader named Cory who lives with his mom in a rough part of town. After helping his bestfriends older brother, and his friends steal some stuff(he doesn't really know he's helping) he gets in trouble with the police. They let him off the hook and he hits it big time with the 6th grade scholarship football team after his friend gets hurt. He goes to the new scholarship school and gets the nickname touchdown kid! He must compete over a girl and the spot as starting running back . After his hosts families house is broken into the cops think it is him who helped do it. He tries to prove them wrong ,but I guess you'll have to read the book to find out.

I really liked the book. It made just want to keep reading because every page had something new going on. I would have changed the ending because it doesn't explain everything,but that just adds to what you think will happen with your imagination. I loved the suspense of what you think will happen after every page. It really is a good book.

I would recommend it to 6th-8th grade kids because you can really relate to what Cory is going through. Really though anybody could read and enjoy it though! The words aren't super hard but there are some advanced words.

[Julius Asencio · Rating 5 out of 5]

“Touchdown Kid” by Tim Green, I read “Touchdown Kid” for the first time. While reading the book you can figure out it’s a kids book. Although “Touchdown Kid” is a kids book it tells an amazing story of how a kid in a poor neighborhood overcomes his challenges and earns a scholarship to a private school called HBS. Cory, who is the main character in the story who is also in sixth grade. Overcomes his challenges by playing football and getting scouted out by HBS’s head coach during one of his games and gets a full ride scholarship. HBS is the number school to go to if you want to play football Cory has been scouted for his elite running back skills. The book has some of the best drama in any book that I have ever read, the locker room beef that Cory has with Mike. The drama in this book is very realistic within real world standards. This book could arguably be a nonfiction book because of the relativity that people could relate to all the drama and real situations in the book. Overall the book is very good with realistic situations in the book and is a very good read for anyone.

[Chase Santucci]

I read the book touchdown kid by Tim green I loved this book, it was very interesting and very funny. I would give this book a 4.5 out of 5 I would've liked it more if it was a little more realistic. There are just some parts in the book where I was like huh theirs no way that happened on a team with 13 and 14-year-olds. But other than just that the book was fonomanual I would suggest this book to kids in middle school it might be a little tricky for kids in elementary school. A big part of this book is were Cory and his best friend made it to the championship and they couldn't believe it because of their team couldn't practice that much because they lived in an urban city and their neighborhood was not the best place to play outside. So their team didn't wanna risk practicing outside, once in a great while their team would get to practice in this school gym. There is my summary of Touchdown kid

[Michael B. · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Touchdown Kid by Tim Green, is about Cory and his dream to play football at HBS, but his dream may not happen because his coach doesn't think he has it in him. During one game in the season the HBS coach comes to see his friend Liam who is supposed to be one of the best football players around, but during the game Liam gets hurt and Cory gets his chance. Cory destroys the competition and the HBS coach is interested in him, but his mom doesn't know if its a good idea for Cory to go. I thought The Touchdown Kid was a very good book I enjoyed the whole thing. The book always had something going on. The only flaw I would give the book is that I wish the book would of explained the characteristics of the characters a little more.

[Clay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cory is not a very good football player but his friend Liam is the best on their team. One of the coaches from a private school is coming to watch Liam and maybe offer him a scholarship. Liam starts the game good but gets hurt later on. So Cory gets in the game and starts scoring touchdown after touchdown and becomes the touchdown kid. The coach offers Cory a scholarship. So Cory goes and stays with the Muillers. Cory is getting settled in and when they get home from practice one day they had been robbed. Cory is from a bad part of town so they think Cory may have gave it to his friends. Did Cory get do it? will he get kicked out of the school? Read this book to find out.

[L P · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Touchdown Kid is very deep and meaningful. It really seems as this came straight from the authors heart and it really hit home for me. I know what it feels like to be in a not so good neighborhood but I was able to get out. Cory experiences many hardships and finally gets the chance to leave but one thing is holding him back. If he wants to go this prestigious school he has to live with something called a host family. His mother doesn’t approve of that at first. After many persuasions and reasoning she finally let Cory go to fulfill his dream of playing football and getting his family into a better neighborhood.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touchdown Kid is a great book-one of the best I’ve read. It starts with Cory and Liam, two best friends, on the same football team. Liam looks like he’s going to win the team’s only HBS scholarship. HBS is a football factory high school, and Cory thinks that he would be able to pay for a scholarship. His mom confronts Cory later in the story and tells him that HBS wouldn’t be something that they would be able to afford. This crushes Cory. But when Liam dislocates his knee, Cory might have a chance, if his coach would just put him in the game!

[Dylan · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the book Touchdown Kid by Mike Lupica Cory is a great football player from the Westside. His best friend Liam is playing a game in front of the HBS football coach. Liam was playing a great game until he got hurt and went down. It was Cory's chance. Cory went in and scored 4 touchdowns. The HBS coach saw this and offered Cory a scholarship to HBS. Cory started attending HBS and he was off to a rough start. Can he turn it around and become a star? Read this inspiring, sporty book to learn more.

[Juan]

In Tim Green's Touchdown Kid, Cory a talented young football player from a challenging background, receives an unexpected scholarship to an elite private school with a top football program. The narrative explores Cory's journey as he navigates the disparities between his past and present, battling not only on the field but also against stereotypes and the struggle to belong in a new, privileged environment. This exciting sports story has a combination of adolescent life and football with the determination to overcome bad luck and make a brighter future.

[Rayce Nicholson]

Touchdown kid was great book. It brought us to a kid named Corey who is from west side of town. He plays running back for that side of town but when his freind Liam gets hurt an appourtunity rises for Corey to go play football for HBS a private school on the other side of his town. He takes this offer and goes and balls out there but also runs into some trouble at the same time. I think this book is for anyone who likes sports books or like football in genral.

[Gage · Rating 4 out of 5]

In my opinion, I really liked this book and the ups and downs of it. The book had a lot of suspense and a few plot twists which I couldn't anticipate which made the book a lot better. The book was very interesting and I liked how Cory was able to get a spot and show out at HBS. The break-in was something interesting and I didn't think Cory would become free. The characters were great and had a lot of different personalities which increased my likeability of the book.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because I had a twist on it because the main character had a really good understanding the law. I also liked this book because the characters were around my age so the book was relate able. I disliked this book because the author skipped a lot of days so the book seemed shorter than it could have been.

[Courtney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cory grew up on the wrong side of town but when a once in a lifetime chance turns up he takes it. Now he can play the sport he loves in a new town with very rich people. He is accused of something he didn't do and it might destroy his whole career.

[Gavin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked the book a lot because it reminded me of when i broke my arm and bounced back from it and started Middle linebacker. The character in this book had a ankle injury and bounced back and started at running back.

[Nicholas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Touchdown Kid is one of the best books ever because it puts sports and real life friendships together and really brings that together into one great story I also like it because its not all perfect land there is stuff that goes wrong.

[Trent W · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a up and down book, one second the kid is happy the next a life changing event happens. It is a very good book about a kid never giving up and working hard. Overall a very good book for sports readers.

[Lee Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another great football story from Tim Green. Plenty of action both on and off the field. If you like sports and a rapid-fire pace, try Touchdown Kid!

[Steve Maxwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

A young adult novel, but a good story and fast moving.