Fourth Down Showdown

Chip Hilton #13

by Clair Bee, Jack McCallum (Foreword), Terry Frei (Afterword)

Chip Hilton and his fellow sophomore stars of State's football team are riding high after their opening victory. State's hopes are suddenly shattered when Chip and his sophomore pals are all suspended for breaking curfew. There's a very good reason why Chip breaks curfew. Chip and his friends decide making the neighborhood a decent place is more important even than playing in State's big game.

Genres: Sports, Football, Fiction

224 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1956

Reviews

[Rebekah Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love how Chip is more interested in helping someone else than being a star. He could easily have ignored Isaiah and Mark and the problems they were facing, but he didn’t. And Chip's friends come along too because they aren’t about to let Chip do things alone. Lots of heart in this story. I may not agree with Chip not telling some things to his coach, but I can sort of understand his thoughts about it.
Recommended to anyone.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fourth Down Showdown is the thirteenth book in Clair Bee's long running Chip Hilton series of boys' sports books. It was published in 1956. Chip is in his sophomore year at college at State University and things are looking good for him to become the new starting quarterback, but things take a bad turn when he's suspended for breaking curfew along with several of his pals. He has to face the idea that some things are more important than football, but things work out all right due to his perseverance in doing the right thing, having a strong moral character, and thanks to the help and support he's shown by his friends Soapy, Fireball, Biggie, Speed, and some understanding adults. It's an early and very well done study on the subject of juvenile bullying.

[mark · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book, more than most of the others, is a clear product of its time. While the underlying themes of self-reliance and doing the right thing are what the character of Hilton is built upon, those themes are brought into conflict by the sub-plot in this particular story. It hinges on teens getting beaten-up by adults and Chip and the gang deciding (quite illegally) to let it play out to allow the teens to the chance to "work it out for themselves" only to then to literally step in at the magic moment to teach everyone a less about fair play. The sports aspects are the same tried-and-true patterns you'd expect for this series, and their predictability is balanced by the exuberance of the writing and the All-Americanism of the characters that we celebrate as ideals. It is sad--and quite honestly, offensive--that the "let them work it out" mantra of the 1950s image of the idealized cowboy stereotype is projected into having teenagers getting assaulted as a pretext for Chip to save the day. This is a cheap out that, in my opinion, denigrates an otherwise acceptable series of stories about a guy trying to be a good person as an example for kids. This ploy is morally wrong and it alters the character of Hilton in a way that deviates from the other stories: Chip isn't a cowboy, he's a team player and a very reluctant hero. It was a incredibly disappointing aspect to an otherwise entertaining story.

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Chip Hilton: Fourth Down Showdown is a great book written by Coach Claire Bee. It is about a kid named Chip and his friends, Soapy Smith, Fireball Finley, Biggie Cohen, and “Whitty” Philip Whittemore. They have a new problem on their hands with a new child employee at Grayson’s restaurant being bullied at the corner of the block. The kids on the corner are not happy with Isaiah because he got the job at Grayson’s. Chip has his hands full with some oldtimers at the block and some new arrivals. The arrivals want nothing to do with Chip. They only come to Chip’s football games to rant on him. When Isaiah finds out all that Chip was doing for him, such as missing football games to help him out, he stops going the way of the corner. Will Chip’s thoughtful actions ruin his chance of being State’s starting Quarterback or will he come through somehow? I would recommend checking this out at all costs. It was a fantastic read.

[Steve Rutherford]

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