The Roar of the Crowd

Winning Season #1

by Rich Wallace

Manny's starting his first football season with the Hudson City Hornets, and he's determined to get in the game and not warm the bench. Problem is, Manny's not a big guy, and when he tries to tackle the offense, he's the one who ends up on the ground. Coach isn't too pleased, especially when the team starts losing. But Manny refuses to give up; he's as tough as anyone out there and he's fast. He's got the season to prove to Coach, his teammates, and himself that he has the talent to earn the roar of the crowd.

Genres: Sports, Fiction, Chapter Books, Realistic Fiction

101 pages, Paperback

Published June 2, 2005

Reviews

[Nicholas Walters · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the “Roar of the Crowd” by Rich Wallace. This book was very good. The book was easy to read and understand. I thought the way the book was written allowed me to really picture what was going on. It gave me a good play by play in the book about a football player who was rather small built, and that he’s trying to find a way on the field. He is given his chance, and he makes the coach proud by forcing the other team to fumble the ball on the kickoff.

In this story there are both direct and indirect characterizations. The author says right away in the book that Manny, the main character in the book, is rather small for his age, but is very quick. This is a direct characterization. The author also makes an indirect characterization when Manny is running down the field to make a tackle. Manny is hit, he still fights back to still make the tackle. This shows he is a physical kid and is not afraid of a hit.

The book is taking place in the city of Hudson, where a small middle school is trying to have a successful football season. The story is during the fall. I can tell because it just starting to get cool and the wind is blowing, but there still is no snow on the ground. Also, this is the season when football takes place.

The author is trying to tell us that no matter how big or small you are, if you really love something, you can do it. Manny is not very big, but he has a huge heart and loves football. The coach knows that Manny is always going to work hard. He doesn’t care how big other people are, he’s going to do his best no matter how tough things are in life and during sports.

This book is a great book to read, and I would recommend it to anyone who wants to learn about a good life lesson. This book is also about football, so anyone who likes football would find this book rather interesting. The book is aimed more towards middle school or high school age kids.

[Blake]

“ The Roar of the Crowd,” by Rich Wallace is a fictional chapter book about a middle school football player. It begins with the week of practice before Manny’s first game of the year. This is his first year of football ever because he and his buddy had played soccer up to this point. He always knew he loved football, but now he’s even more excited to play it. He plays for the Hudson City Hornets. He practices hard all week and gets put on the kickoff team for the first game. During the kickoff, he gets really nervous and misses some key tackles and by the next week is not on any special teams. He gets very limited playing time because of how small he is. The next few weeks go by and he hasn't seen a lot of the playing field since the first week. He decided to not give up on football because he loves it so much. He vows to do his best to show the coaches he can fight with the big guys. In the last game of the season, they are in the championship game and they are winning by a lot at halftime. With the second half to come, coach puts Manny back on the kickoff team and makes three tackles and forced a fumble. Towards the end of the game, Manny is put in on a two-point conversion at tailback. He scores and realizes that he is not too small and that he can do anything he puts his heart and mind to..

The main character of the story is Manny. Manny is smaller than average middle school boy with a big heart and a body full of determination. He never gives up and finds out what he gains from that at the end of the book. He is a great friend and great older brother to look up to also.

During most of the book, the setting mainly takes place on the football field. It is in Hudson City, New York, which is a little suburb outside of New York City. It takes place during present time period. Other than being at the football field, Manny is either downtown with his buddies or at home eating dinner and doing chores with his family. The setting is very well described and paints a good picture of the atmosphere.

I would recommend this book to anyone who is into football or sports books. Also, to anyone interested in reading a good short chapter book. I rate this book a four out of five because they could add more detail about what goes on besides him not getting playing time. I really liked this book and plan on reading more from the same author.

[Trevor Wetzel · Rating 3 out of 5]

“The Roar of the Crowd,” by Rich Wallace is about a smaller than average, middle school football player named Manny. Manny loves to play football but, because of his size, he hardly gets any playing time. For the first game of the year, Coach Reynolds assigns Manny to a position on the kickoff team and Manny does not perform the way they need him to, and he let’s up big plays to the other team. At halftime, Coach Reynolds makes an adjustment to the kickoff team and removes Manny from the group, taking away his only playing time. After this, Manny still goes to practice. He is very limited when it comes to participation in practice but, when he is given time, he goes as hard as he can to impress the coaches. At the end of the story, Hudson City is playing the championship and is dominating the game. With a lead at halftime, Coach Reynolds puts Manny back onto the kickoff team. Manny makes two tackles on three kickoff plays and forces a fumble. On the last play of the game, Manny is put in to run in a two-point conversion and converts it. This makes Manny realize how much he loves football again.

The main character of the story is Manny. Manny is small for his age but, has a big heart. He loves the game of football. He is nice to his teammates and he does his best to stay upbeat and positive. Manny is hard-working and it all pays off for him at the end of the season.

The setting of the story takes place in Hudson City, New York during present times. At different times in the story, Manny and his friends walk downtown to get something to eat. The author does not do a very good job of describing the town and the atmosphere of it. But, during the games, the author does a great job describing what is happening on and off the field. He expresses how the fans are acting in the stands. The setting makes the ending scene more exciting than it already is.

I would recommend this book to any reader who enjoys reading stories about football. The level of difficulty is low and I would recommend this story to any reader in fourth grade or farther. The story has a great moral to it and it is very enjoyable.

[Francis · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fun, quick read about Gr. 6 student Manny, who is an undersized boy playing for his city football team. The book taught a good lesson about perseverance and dedication. I actually quite liked Manny as the main character.

The only thing I didn’t like was that Manny (and Donald - his best friend), didn’t even get to play during most practices. I can understand how not all players play in games, but I would find it extremely demoralizing if I didn’t even get in to play during practice. Just my personal opinion.

[T · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read the book the road across by Rich Wallace. This book was about football and the little kid who was kind of scrawny for his age. He wasn't very big but he was pretty fast. With hard work and perseverance he went to work out everyday and was able to be the running back back-up. The little kid's name was Manny. The kick-off receiving team he would kick the balls and his friend would always be on the front line but even though his friend was on the front line he would be supportive of him .

In my opinion I really like the book because of the main character Manny. He was little he started off little and he persevered he worked out everyday and he would keep continue and going to practice he was a great soccer player but it wouldn't went to football that was a whole new thing and he persevered through it. So the reason I really like this was because of his friends and him and his friends we're really scrawny but they all help each other and help persevere through the football season .

I would give this book to people who like reading but not too much because it is a beginner book and it's not that long so it is pretty good for like kids It's really good for teahing perseverance. I'd recommend this to almost anybody would like to football and who could relate to this. Overall it was a great book.

[La Crescent Public Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

An easy read with short chapters for middle schoolers and tweens.

Manny is out for football, but being smaller, he is having trouble helping his team win. Can he turn things around?

Great for sports lovers and reluctant readers.

~ Judy

[Rebecca Esposito · Rating 4 out of 5]

Liked the book and think I like the author. Would love to see a heavier edit especially when it his the 3rd woe is me statement. I found myself fast forwarding through paragraphs. She builds nice characters.

[Davidv42 · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was a really good book that had a lot of baseball and was really funny.

[Jordan Poliakoff · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a really good football book and it teaches you to never give up

[Lane C · Rating 4 out of 5]

This quarter i read "Roar of the Crowd" by rich wallace, this was mannys first years playing football,he always liked football but never had the courage to do it,but this year he decides to play football. Manny plays for the Hudson City Hornets, his first week of practice and he works his butt off and gets a started position on the kickoff team for an upcoming game. during the the game he misses some key tackles,by the next week hes not on any special teams. a few weeks go by and he doesn't have much playing time since that first game because how little he is. a few more weeks go by and its the last game of the season,the Hudson city hornets are in the championship, they are wining by a lot in the second half,coach puts manny in for special teams and gets 3 big tackles and forced a fumble.towards the end of the game he gets in for tailback and scores the extra point! manny realizes he not to small to play its what you put to mind.

i like how the author wrote the book it made my brain look like a movie when i was reading it, this story was in 3rd person. i can really relate to this book to my life so that made me even more into this book, and i liked how the author put little funny inside jokes such as, manny was not hungry when his parents asked him to eat and his dad said "where do hungry football players play" in the supper bowl". that made the book funnier and more interesting.

i would recommend this book for anyone who is thinking about joining football or people or just generally like football. this book i'd say is for 11-15 year olds.

[Jack Keefe · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Roar of the Crowd is wrote by Rich Wallace. It takes place in Hudson City Mississippi. The Main character of this book is Manny. Manny is the backup and he does not want to be anymore. Manny gets his chance by working hard during practice and working out. Manny gets stronger and finally starts a game. I would give this book a rating a 6 out of 10.

[Donte' · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book was awesome. It stared a young football player named Manny. He was very talented but he never really earned his shot at showing off his skills. Eventually as his football season progressed he developed into a better player and made his way to a starting position.

I can relate to this book because i play basketball. When i was in 7th grade i was riding the pines for almost half the season, on my middle school team. However, every practiced i showed 110% effort and hustle. When the coach did put me in i showed all my skills. I worked my way into a starting posiiton for the whole 8th grade year.

I recommend this book to anyone who has ever been told you weren't ready to do this or that. This book shows you that if you work hard, practice hard, and play hard you can take on the universe!

[Cristian · Rating 3 out of 5]

one of my favorite books i read this year was a book called "The Roar Of The Crowd". This book was third person omnicientpoint of view. This book was about some football players that did bad stuff and recived bad luck. for example, one character stole a pie from the store and he got bad luck of not playing in the team. All characters did something bad and recive consequences. The main character liked soccer and footbal at the same time, and he had trouble choosing wich sport to play and really like.

[Andrew Scott · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was an awesome and funny book in my opinion.
I really could relate to in several kids opinions if they were small on a team with big kids.
It was funny because his brother wrote a sign to bring the game and it said let manny play.

I though it was a short funny book with several inside jokes and he does play football
I was in that situation because I was new to the team and small. There were several parts that
I felt bad for the kid but every book has a good ending.

I recommend this book for everybody because
It's not bad it's just tackle football and it's fun.

[Zach · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book "The Roar of the Crowd" by Rich Wallace was a really good book, but I felt that is portrayed the wrong meaning of working hard. In this book it talks about how he wants to prove to his coach and teammates that he is good enough to play. But he also wants to have the crowd roar has they see how good he is. You shouldn't be playing for the crowd, you should be playing for something bigger than that. Overall, this book does portray great work ethic and the motto "never give up." I would recommend this book to 5th-th grade readers.

[Gavin Ludlow · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Roar of the Crowd by Rich Wallace was a okay book. It got a little slow at times but in the end it was intense and I could not stop reading. It was a very predicable book from the start though. I knew he would come out on top.
It is about a new football player named Manny. Since it was his first year, Manny and his friend did not get much playing time. During practice one day they both got a chance to play in positions they had never played before and it turned out great.
I would recommend this book to anyone who likes Rich Wallace.

[Aubury O · Rating 5 out of 5]

I espessially liked this book because the main character(manny) never gives up. the story is about a kid on the middle school football team who has low experiance cuase he's been playing soccer his whole life. I think i can relate to it because manny has a little brother just like i do. this is one of my favorite books because of the determanation many has. I recomend this book

[B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Juv Fiction The first in the Winning Season series this isn't great literature but with lots of sports action detail I think lots of sports nuts would like this anyways. This one is about a small sized boy making the middle school football team.

[Jonah S · Rating 4 out of 5]

i liked this book, it was a good way to learn about football. but it was a little short. if they made it about 50 pages longer i would have been good. and i would have gaven it a 5-5. so this book was not bad it was just too short.

[Michael 11-12 · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 reasons why i liked this book.

1. It was a a good book because the main character(Manny)never gives up.

2. Also because it helps you learn about football.

3.And because it was kind of a action book.

[Carissa · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute book. I like teen and children's books a lot and kids would really like this. It has a good story, but as an adult comparing it with other books for that age group, I can't give it as high of a rating as I would for others.

[Amy Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Manny is a fast runner and good at soocer but when he tries to play football he finds it harder than he thought. He has to work hard and persevere to be able to play in a real football game.

[Qdogg · Rating 5 out of 5]

it was good.

[Ms. Learned's Literature Group Room112 · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a fantastic book. If you like football you would like this book. The main character makes some tough decisions between soccer and football.

[Corey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a pretty good book.This is a book for people who like sports stories. It's pretty much about a kid who joins the football team and has to travel a lot.

[Michael · Rating 3 out of 5]

the book got me intersested because i read the other books of the winning season series and i think the book is ok but it's to short.

[Cws]

JAR4-Wal

[RJ Heston]

Hope it's exciting.

[Dean H · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a really good book. If you like action you will love this book. Also if you like football i would highly sugest this book.

[Mrs. McWhirter's Class · Rating 4 out of 5]

I personally love football books.
Manny and his friend Donald want to get on the field for their middle school.
Will coach let him?
Or will he sit on the bench?