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Red-Hot Hightops
Kelly is reluctant to believe her team-mates, when they tell her she plays a better game of basketball since she started wearing her red hightops. She soon has to admit that the sneakers have a strange overpowering effect on her!
- GenresChildrensBasketball
148 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1987
7 people are currently reading
30 people want to read
About the author
Matt Christopher
438 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
April 10, 2018
Personal Response
I really enjoyed this book because it was about basketball and about how the magic shoes actually worked. The beginning really made you want to keep reading. I like how this book focused only on the problem and didn't get off topic a lot.
Plot
Kelly was a girl that played basketball. Basketball was her favorite sport but she was super shy when she played. One day after a game there were red high top shoes in her locker. She asked around to see who had put them there but no one knew. She decided to wear them for the next game. The next game, she played really physical and everyone was surprised and happy that she is playing like that now. They ended up winning that game. Two boys liked her at that time and she wanted to play good for them. The next game they played, Kelly played a little to aggressive and got fouled out. Her friend,Ester, was getting kind of mad at her for being to good. After a couple of more games she thought that the red high top shoes were hurting her more then doing good. She wanted to get rid of them, so for the next game she wore her original shoes. The fans were yelling at her to put the red high top shoes on because she wasn't playing good. At halftime, she ran into the locker room to get the red high top shoes. The fans were happy once she brang them out and started playing really aggressive again. She knew she was losing friendship because of these shoes so at the third quarter, she went back into the locker room to burn the shoes. After she burned them, Ester came behind her and said that the shoes were hers and, she just wanted to make her a better player. Kelly forgave her and they became good friends again. They ended up winning the game at the end.
Characterization
Kelly is a normal person off the court but, she is really shy on the court. That is why Ester got the red high top shoes for her to wear. She changed a lot after she wore those shoes but, she didn't like it. Ester is the one who tries to make Kelly not shy on the court by getting these shoes that they say are magic.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to middle and high schoolers. If you enjoy basketball and magic, then you will like this book a lot. This book keeps it kid friendly throughout the whole book. I gave this book four out of five stars because it started repeating itself throughout the book.
I really enjoyed this book because it was about basketball and about how the magic shoes actually worked. The beginning really made you want to keep reading. I like how this book focused only on the problem and didn't get off topic a lot.
Plot
Kelly was a girl that played basketball. Basketball was her favorite sport but she was super shy when she played. One day after a game there were red high top shoes in her locker. She asked around to see who had put them there but no one knew. She decided to wear them for the next game. The next game, she played really physical and everyone was surprised and happy that she is playing like that now. They ended up winning that game. Two boys liked her at that time and she wanted to play good for them. The next game they played, Kelly played a little to aggressive and got fouled out. Her friend,Ester, was getting kind of mad at her for being to good. After a couple of more games she thought that the red high top shoes were hurting her more then doing good. She wanted to get rid of them, so for the next game she wore her original shoes. The fans were yelling at her to put the red high top shoes on because she wasn't playing good. At halftime, she ran into the locker room to get the red high top shoes. The fans were happy once she brang them out and started playing really aggressive again. She knew she was losing friendship because of these shoes so at the third quarter, she went back into the locker room to burn the shoes. After she burned them, Ester came behind her and said that the shoes were hers and, she just wanted to make her a better player. Kelly forgave her and they became good friends again. They ended up winning the game at the end.
Characterization
Kelly is a normal person off the court but, she is really shy on the court. That is why Ester got the red high top shoes for her to wear. She changed a lot after she wore those shoes but, she didn't like it. Ester is the one who tries to make Kelly not shy on the court by getting these shoes that they say are magic.
Recommendations
I would recommend this book to middle and high schoolers. If you enjoy basketball and magic, then you will like this book a lot. This book keeps it kid friendly throughout the whole book. I gave this book four out of five stars because it started repeating itself throughout the book.
November 16, 2011
In the beginning of the book he main character, Kelly, is playing a basketball game for her school but has trouble overcoming her shyness so she is unable to shoot the ball. After the game has ended, Kelly goes back to her locker and finds somebody has put a pair of red high tops in there. Amazed and confused, she starts asking the girls on the team if they put them there. Everyone says no. Kelly takes the shoes back home with her and on their next game wears the shoes. She, and everybody else including the coach, notices she is starting to play better because she has overcome her shyness. She immediately thinks it is the shoes that is helping her, like they have magical powers. She is starting to get noticed by her two crushes, Brett and Anthony, and she starts to get a little more confidence in herself. For every game she wears the red high tops and she always gets better each time. She still wonders who sent her the shoes and if they actually do have magical powers that are making her better. When her two crushes start talking to her she is glad that she has the shoes but eventually she becomes obsessed with them and it breaks up her friendship with her best friend, Ethyl.
Ethyl also plays on the basketball team and they bicker back and forth on the court. Kelly is upset that her friendship is going bad and so she tries to fix it by talking to Ethyl. Ethyl and her agree to stay best friends until they start to argue again. Kelly thinks it is defiantly the shoes this time so she decides not to wear them at the last game. Everybody is upset that she is not wearing the red high tops but Kelly does not care. After a while in the game Kelly realizes she cannot play without her high tops so she sends her father to get them. When he arrives back the coach tells her she does not need them and Kelly realizes she is right. She goes into the school hallway and tells the custodian to take them away and burn them. At this time Ethyl comes out and admits she put the shoes in Kelly's locker and they do have special powers. She explains she got a chemist to perforce some experiment on the shoes and it worked. Kelly is relieved she finally found out about the shoes. The two make up and finish the game for a big win.
The book is perfect for primary/intermediate because it has a few issues a kid faces growing up. Fighting with your friends and having crushes is something every kid goes through at one point. Also, it is a sports book so it is great for a kid who is into sports, like basketball. Although I will have to say this book is more geared to girls because the main character is a girl.
The front cover looks like it has been painted with some computer effects as well. With the big basketball n the front and the girl running it is easy to tell the book is about basketball for girls. I think the front cover will catch young girls attention especially if they love sports. The colors are also bright and it is very alluring for a young reader.
I have found that the author, Matt Christopher, writes the number 1 sports series for kids. I like his books because at first I thought they were more geared toward boys but I found one that a girl can read and I am sure there are more. These books are great for young readers who love sports. They all have a little mystery in them and it will keep kids reading.
Ethyl also plays on the basketball team and they bicker back and forth on the court. Kelly is upset that her friendship is going bad and so she tries to fix it by talking to Ethyl. Ethyl and her agree to stay best friends until they start to argue again. Kelly thinks it is defiantly the shoes this time so she decides not to wear them at the last game. Everybody is upset that she is not wearing the red high tops but Kelly does not care. After a while in the game Kelly realizes she cannot play without her high tops so she sends her father to get them. When he arrives back the coach tells her she does not need them and Kelly realizes she is right. She goes into the school hallway and tells the custodian to take them away and burn them. At this time Ethyl comes out and admits she put the shoes in Kelly's locker and they do have special powers. She explains she got a chemist to perforce some experiment on the shoes and it worked. Kelly is relieved she finally found out about the shoes. The two make up and finish the game for a big win.
The book is perfect for primary/intermediate because it has a few issues a kid faces growing up. Fighting with your friends and having crushes is something every kid goes through at one point. Also, it is a sports book so it is great for a kid who is into sports, like basketball. Although I will have to say this book is more geared to girls because the main character is a girl.
The front cover looks like it has been painted with some computer effects as well. With the big basketball n the front and the girl running it is easy to tell the book is about basketball for girls. I think the front cover will catch young girls attention especially if they love sports. The colors are also bright and it is very alluring for a young reader.
I have found that the author, Matt Christopher, writes the number 1 sports series for kids. I like his books because at first I thought they were more geared toward boys but I found one that a girl can read and I am sure there are more. These books are great for young readers who love sports. They all have a little mystery in them and it will keep kids reading.
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