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The Benchwarmers #2
Game Changers
Trouble is about to tip off for Jeff and Andi’s sixth-grade basketball teams in Game Changers, a standalone second book in the middle-grade Benchwarmers series by #1 New York Times bestselling sportswriter John Feinstein.
After a controversial season playing on the boys' soccer team, Andi Carillo is ready to kick butt and take names on the girls' basketball team. Jeff Michaels, her best friend, is raring to drop his benchwarmer status from soccer and play a leading role on the boys' basketball squad. But between a coach's coded racism and a teammate's endless sabotage, neither Andi nor Jeff is in for a layup of a season. To make matters worse, the local media smells more than one juicy story. Will Andi and Jeff be able to power through and find a way to help both their teams rebound?
From sportswriting legend John Feinstein comes this fast-paced novel about two friends who are willing to risk it all to change the game—on and off the court.
After a controversial season playing on the boys' soccer team, Andi Carillo is ready to kick butt and take names on the girls' basketball team. Jeff Michaels, her best friend, is raring to drop his benchwarmer status from soccer and play a leading role on the boys' basketball squad. But between a coach's coded racism and a teammate's endless sabotage, neither Andi nor Jeff is in for a layup of a season. To make matters worse, the local media smells more than one juicy story. Will Andi and Jeff be able to power through and find a way to help both their teams rebound?
From sportswriting legend John Feinstein comes this fast-paced novel about two friends who are willing to risk it all to change the game—on and off the court.
176 pages, Hardcover
Published August 25, 2020
10 people are currently reading
31 people want to read
About the author
John Feinstein
75 books592 followersJohn Feinstein was an American sportswriter, author, and sports commentator.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
December 19, 2022
I read and loved the first book, Benchwarmers, so it was fun and easy to fall right back into the POVs of best friends Andi and Jeff -- but this time, for the middle school girls' and boys' basketball teams.
Andi's excited to try out for the 6th grade girls' basketball team. For one thing, the middle school has one. That's a step up from soccer, which in 6th grade only offered "field hockey" to girls! But being a trailblazer on the boys' soccer team has earned Andi the reputation -- before she ever meets her new basketball coach -- of being a media hound.
Which, to be fair, for a 6th grader, she kinda was.
But this time, her coach is blatantly racist and outright refuses to play Andi and her friends, three other girls of color. They are benchwarmers, game after game.
Jeff, on the other hand, is in a comfy position of having a boys' basketball coach he knows and likes. And he's good at his position, super good. But he still has to deal with the bully -- Arlow -- the same kid who tried his darnedest to drum Andi off the soccer team and perpetuated a climate of misogyny, instead of inclusiveness.
So why is coach starting Arlow on point instead of Jeff, routinely? Jeff guards against getting a bad attitude about it, but his coach's motives are a total mystery, especially when Jeff's clearly the better player. Even more frustratingly, Jeff is powerless to help Andi with her issues with the racist girls' basketball coach. Andi doesn't want Jeff to call his sportscaster dad to shine a light on the issue. Instead, she cooks up a plan…which I won't spoil!
Read to find out the ending. It's satisfying.
I'm hoping for a sequel. I know (from my two kiddos) there's two whole sports "seasons" left in the middle school year, so I hope Feinstein will tackle another Jeff and Andi tale in a whole new sport.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog, The Fabric of Words, for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
Andi's excited to try out for the 6th grade girls' basketball team. For one thing, the middle school has one. That's a step up from soccer, which in 6th grade only offered "field hockey" to girls! But being a trailblazer on the boys' soccer team has earned Andi the reputation -- before she ever meets her new basketball coach -- of being a media hound.
Which, to be fair, for a 6th grader, she kinda was.
But this time, her coach is blatantly racist and outright refuses to play Andi and her friends, three other girls of color. They are benchwarmers, game after game.
Jeff, on the other hand, is in a comfy position of having a boys' basketball coach he knows and likes. And he's good at his position, super good. But he still has to deal with the bully -- Arlow -- the same kid who tried his darnedest to drum Andi off the soccer team and perpetuated a climate of misogyny, instead of inclusiveness.
So why is coach starting Arlow on point instead of Jeff, routinely? Jeff guards against getting a bad attitude about it, but his coach's motives are a total mystery, especially when Jeff's clearly the better player. Even more frustratingly, Jeff is powerless to help Andi with her issues with the racist girls' basketball coach. Andi doesn't want Jeff to call his sportscaster dad to shine a light on the issue. Instead, she cooks up a plan…which I won't spoil!
Read to find out the ending. It's satisfying.
I'm hoping for a sequel. I know (from my two kiddos) there's two whole sports "seasons" left in the middle school year, so I hope Feinstein will tackle another Jeff and Andi tale in a whole new sport.
Looking for more book suggestions for your 7th/8th grade classroom and students?
Visit my blog, The Fabric of Words, for more great middle grade book recommendations, free teaching materials and fiction writing tips: https://amb.mystrikingly.com/
August 9, 2024
I did not read Book 1 and can confirm this is a standalone story. The first few chapters fill you in on anything that happened in the prior story & the characters are simple enough to where I don't feel I missed anything.
The book is split POV between Jeff and Andi. Andi is faced with a coach and teammates who immediately dislike her, and it turns out the coach is racist toward the non-white players, too. Jeff is dealing with a difficult teammate while also trying to help Andi from behind the scenes.
The action/gameplay in the book is well done, but for me, the writing was too on the nose, even from a middle-grade story. The characters are simple, and this is the same prejudice-is-bad message I hear in every story with nothing new. The story also sidelined Jeff hard. Very little in his plotline matters and his overall role in the story felt like a minor supporting character as opposed to a split protagonist.
The book is split POV between Jeff and Andi. Andi is faced with a coach and teammates who immediately dislike her, and it turns out the coach is racist toward the non-white players, too. Jeff is dealing with a difficult teammate while also trying to help Andi from behind the scenes.
The action/gameplay in the book is well done, but for me, the writing was too on the nose, even from a middle-grade story. The characters are simple, and this is the same prejudice-is-bad message I hear in every story with nothing new. The story also sidelined Jeff hard. Very little in his plotline matters and his overall role in the story felt like a minor supporting character as opposed to a split protagonist.
August 27, 2020
Ok so it is a YA book but Feinstein writes so very well and the story is full of heart. Read it.
October 7, 2020
Link to my book talk: https://youtu.be/Q3lGANI2CbA
February 12, 2021
Well written, but this book appeals more to middle schoolers.
April 27, 2023
Action packed basketball
September 15, 2025
Solid second book in the series, but it just lacks something that falls short of the first book.
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews