Rivals

Baseball Great #2

by Tim Green

Cooperstown! Josh is thrilled when all his hard training pays off in a big way and his team, the Titans, makes it to a national tournament in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. More is on the line for Josh than just a trophy. Winning would mean everything to his dad—now Josh's coach. Winning could mean a major endorsement deal for the Titans and the attention of big league scouts!

After a dirty play and a brutal injury threaten to sideline Josh, he spies suspicious activity at the tournament. He tries to tell his good friend Jaden about what he's seen, but she's too busy spending time with the L.A. Comets' star player, Mickey Mullen Jr., to want to get involved. Jaden says she's doing research for the newspaper . . . but is she? Now Josh has a rival—both on the field and off—as he swings for the fences in a game that quickly becomes more dangerous.

New York Times bestselling author Tim Green delivers a hard-hitting look at what some teams will do to win in this gripping companion to Baseball Great.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Action, Middle Grade

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2010

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

[Caden Bernardo · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was very good. The character strength of this book was leadership. Josh was a very talented player who carried his team to Cooperstown for a big national tournament. The goal was to win the tournament with attention from scouts. Josh had his dad coaching him, and his dad had kept him motivated and ready to go up against a big stage. Josh took his dad's advice and was able to come through for him and his team. Josh showed a lot of leadership to keep his team going, and ready to play for each game.

[Rj Matney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book "Rivals" by Tim Green, is a great book. "Narration filled with crisp dialogue brings immediacy to Josh's painful practice sessions, the excitement of his games, and his confusion at the flux of middle-school dynamics," says Kirkus Reviews.
Josh is a nearly six foot tall middle-schooler who is a baseball star. The Syracuse Titans are competing for a spot in the "Cooperstown Hall of Fame Tournament" against the Toledo Nighthawks. The pitcher for Toledo can throw a seventy-five mile per hour heater. The pitcher had been planning on beaning Josh if Toledo needed it. Right in the head.
It was time to get serious. The Titans are losing and Josh is up to bat. Josh has already smacked three home runs. Then the Toledo coach came walking out to the mound. He looked at Josh and looked back at his pitcher. Josh was ready for the bean ball. The pitch came and and hit Josh enough to knock him out.
Josh was going to take his base but he decided not to. His team needed it. There was a runner on second and if Josh could hit a home run, then the game would be over. The pitch was coming. A fastball right down the middle. Josh swung and bombed it over the fence. The Syracuse Titans are going to Cooperstown.
Josh was excited for the tournament. But there was only one problem. Mickey Mullen, a former major league star, was the coach of his son's team, the Los Angeles Comets.
Both teams cruised through the tournament. Now it was time to watch the Comets in their semifinal game. Josh was wondering if the Titans were good enough to beat the Comets.
There were two outs and two runners in scoring position. One run is all the Comets need to win. The runner on third ran home off the crack of the bat. The runner went sliding for home and everybody thought the runner was out and it was pretty obvious. But to the crowd's surprise, the umpire called safe. Josh was mad and followed the umpire after the game. He had a funny feeling he was being payed extra just so the Comets would win.
Josh hopped on the back of the ump's truck and saw an envelope in his hand. He was positive that money was in that envelope. He was nervous that the championship would be unfair too.
Can the Titans win even with the Comets paying the umpire? Are the Comets too much for Josh and the Titans? Find out when you read "Rivals" by Tim Green.

[Rainier Birco · Rating 4 out of 5]

What I liked about this book was that the author made Josh's rivals both on and off the field like what he's battling off the field is that this guy is paying a referee to call bad calls on the field to make this all-star player by the name of Mickey Mullen Jr. win the tournament. What he's battling on the field is his injury that his eye has been critical damaged and has been told by his physician or doctor is that he can't play for 3 weeks which is the day of their tournament so he has to wear this mask to protect himself from getting injured or hurt again.Also what i liked about it is that rival off the field has been caught of doing that problem. Overall i really liked it because it made me kept on reading on and on.

[Jaden Onaca · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is exciting, yet sad. It tells the true story about how a 15 year old boy saves his mom. You should read this book because it has action and it is sad at some times.

[Frank DelPonte · Rating 5 out of 5]

Josh LeBlanc, a twelve-year-old baseball powerhouse from Tim Green’s, Baseball Great, re-emerges in a sequel which again displays Josh’s incredible athletic prowess and a life-altering decision that will change your perception of Josh forever. Rivals by Tim Green will continue the story of Josh and include many twists and turns on Josh’s way to the tournament at Cooperstown, NY. After having suffered a vision-threatening hit by pitch, Josh needs to decide between staying away from baseball to let his eye recover, or having surgery on his eye which would give him a distinct scar on his face, but allow him to continue to play in the tournament. Josh and his father would eventually come to the decision of having surgery, going against his mother’s recommendation of sitting it out. In one of Josh’s games, his team, the Titans, are facing a pitcher that has a hard time finding the strike zone, but can throw some serious heat. Throughout the game, Josh and his teammates notice that the umpire is giving the pitcher some very generous calls and expanding the strike zone for him. Josh’s suspicion proves to be worthwhile when he realizes the umpire is tipping the game to set up Josh’s team to play the Comets, with ex major leaguer Mickey Mullen’s son being their ace. Now, Josh and his two friends, Jaden and Benji, try to get to the bottom of this case to prevent any cheating in this tournament’s future.
The story is written in first person narrative from Josh’s point of view. Tim Green, as this book is meant for a young adult audience, uses vocabulary that is easy to understand all throughout the novel. The language is very colloquial, which means used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary. This language is perfect for this book because Tim Green in general writes for the younger audience, and vocabulary like this is very easy to understand and enjoyable to read. Rivals is mostly fast-paced which keeps readers intrigued throughout the book and makes it very difficult to put down. The emotional tone of this book is mysterious because no matter where you are in the paperback, there is always a decision to be made or a problem to be solved. Tim Green maintains this tone by having never ending questions that need to be looked into and eventually answered.
My favorite character, for obvious reasons, has to be Josh LeBlanc. Josh has such a diverse personality and can be your best friend or your worst enemy. Josh really stood out to me because for his age, he is very mature and understands that he is the driving force of his team. One thing he never does is brag about his stats, capabilities, or not tries to do too much. Josh is very active in the dugout and on the field and always gives off a positive vibe. He also treats everyone on the team very pleasantly no matter how great they are doing or how much they are struggling. I can’t really relate to Josh because I have never been the best player in my league like he is, but I definitely love his personality and his dedication to the sport of baseball. Even though I have never been in a similar situation that Josh was in in Rivals, there were numerous parts of the novel that I myself, could relate to. One part of the text that I can relate to is feeling that the umpire is against my team and wants the other team to win. All the time when I would play baseball, I could never be satisfied with all the umpire’s calls, but then again, who could? I had the same feeling that Josh had about the strike zone all the time when I would play baseball.
My favorite part of the book was when Josh took a stand against the umpire because he felt as though he was getting cheating during the games. This has to be my favorite part because whenever people are upset with the umpire’s calls, they are usually told to get over it and just be quiet about it so there are no further consequences. This is where Josh completely disagrees because when he felt the umpire favoring the other team, he told his friends and they were on the case right away. He didn’t care about what people would say about him or what consequences he could face, he just cared about making sure every team in the tournament had a fair chance to win it all.
If I had to choose a my least favorite part in the novel, it would have to be when Jaden starts getting friendly with Mickey Mullen Jr and hanging out with him. This was my least favorite part because Josh was trying to stop the tipping of games by the umpire and he needed his friends to help him. Benji is willing to help, but Jaden ignores Josh’s call for help because she wants to be with Mickey Mullen Jr to help her get a boost in her writing career because he helps her meet ESPN’s very own writer, Bob Costas.
If I had the power to change anything in this book, it would be the fact that Jaden starts hanging out with Mickey Mullen Jr and ditches Josh and Benji all the time. I believe the book would just get a whole other dimension added to it if Jaden was also worried about the umpire cheating instead of meeting famous ESPN writers.
The theme of this book is to go with your gut feeling, because odds are, you are right. This is the theme because Josh felt that the umpire was giving very generous calls to the other team and instead of letting him get away with it, Josh took it upon himself to get to the bottom of this mystery. Tim Green very successfully conveys this theme because he makes Josh go with his gut feeling and take a stand against this umpire. Some things that worked really well in Tim Green’s Rivals were the pace of the story and the engaging parts of the story.
The story never had any points in it when I felt bored and needed to just put it down, there was always some action happening and that is what made this book so hard to put down. The pace really helps this because when books are slow-paced, I get bored easily and it just is a pain for me to get far enough into the book so that some action finally takes place. In Rivals there is action non-stop from beginning to end and that’s what makes it one of my favorite books. I would undoubtedly recommend this novel to anyone. This novel is especially intriguing if you are a sports fan and love to read a story with many twists and turns that keeps you entertained the whole way. This book shares a bunch of baseball stories and also informs the reader on what is happening off the field with Josh LeBlanc and that is why I completely recommend this book.

[Karen Ball · Rating 3 out of 5]

Josh LeBlanc is back, and he's playing to win, even after getting hit in the head with an intentional beanball and having to have eye surgery. His team makes it into the Hall of Fame Championships tournament, and Josh discovers that a former major league player is doing everything he can to ensure that his son's California team wins it all... everything including paying off the head umpire who is absolutely NOT interested in fairness on or off the field. Josh has a couple daring escapes from the nasty umpire and the California thugs! Great baseball gameplay, hilariously funny conversations with his best frind Benji, and some problems with his oughta-be girlfriend Jaden keep the action moving. Anyone who enjoys baseball will get a kick out of this one! Reading the other Baseball Great book first is fun, but not necessary. 6th grade and up.

[Caidon Bowman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Rivals is a great book if you like baseball and a drama. Rivals is written by Tim Green and loved reading it. The book is a boy named Josh and he plays baseball very well and has to play a former MLB pitchers son his name is Mickey Mullen Jr. The book follows the tournament they play in. Josh sees that the officiating for Mickey Jr. is very much so in his teams favor so Josh and his friend go to find out whats going on before they get to the championship game and play Mickey Jr. I liked the story line about how Mickey Jr. has a very famous dad and how Josh has a not so famous dad. There is a lot of action besides baseball like when they go to see what is going on with the officiating. Also I like how there is drama between Josh and his friends that gets resolved by the ending. Any reader that likes baseball I would highly recommend them to read this book.

[Zach Rosauer · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked this book because it is about baseball, and there is a lot of action and funny phrases that make me laugh. I have read almost every book in the series and this one is the best!

[Morgan Brough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rivals by Tim Green had a very good plot. What I liked about it was that the author, Tim Green, was that he had Josh's rivals on and off the field. An interesting thing about the story is Josh's battle on the field and his critical injury. It was funny to me when his rival's were caught cheating on the field. This book was very different from what I have read before and it is very addictive.

[Daniel Campbell · Rating 5 out of 5]

The main characters of the book Rivals are Josh, Jaden, Bengi, Mickey Jr. Mickey Mullen, Josh’s dad and Myron. The story takes place in many places including, The Cooperstown Baseball Park, the hotel, the lake, the camp, and the umpire’s residence. The last game of the season determining if the team goes on or not the other team’s pitcher hits Cooperstown’s best player Josh. Not just hit but in the left eye. They win when josh convinces his father to let him play one more play, the last one. Then he got the wining out. They were all so proud of him, but they still knew they had to get him to hospital.
When they got to the hospital and they said that he would not be able to play till after championship game so if they made it would not get to play. But they had one option that he could lay with, he could have a procedure done but his mom was not sure in having this done. When he finally got his mother to let him get the procedure done he started practicing. His dad the coach knew they could make it to the championship game. But there was another team they had to play that had a major league player as the coach and his son is their pitcher. Josh’s dad was a Minor league player but never got to the majors. One day they got to that teams game to scout it out. The umpire gave Mickey Jr. the guy’s son a 3 foot square not even above the plate strike box. After the game Josh thinks he finds Myron a guy on the team paying off the umpire. Jaden had been with Josh’s team on the way there but she is now hanging with the comets [the other team]. She now is boyfriend with Mickey Jr. While at the hall of fame Josh tells Jaden about this. He did not mean to have Mickey knowing but she told him thinking it was a joke.
When Myron found out he tried to kidnap Josh and Jaden. She now believes them. She spies on them and finds when they have meetings. They get a picture of the payoff and steel the envelope. On the way back though the umpire tried to shot them with a shotgun on the lake. At the hotel the comets were having a party and when the team of Josh, Jaden, and Bengi, arrive they show the money to the crowd. With the evidence the old umpire goes to jail accompanied by Myron. Josh’s team wins the game but both of Josh and Mickey can call each other Rivals.

[Michael Snipp · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book rivals by Tim green is a great book. I recommend this book to people who love sports especially baseball. this book is mainly about baseball and going to this big tournament called Cooperstown.
This book is based on three kids and how they want to live their dream on becoming a professional baseball player. They play on one of the best teams. on their game to goto cooperstown they have to play the best team in the country and the have a pitcher who throws fast. the pitcher for the other team intentionally hits josh who is the best player of the other team, he gets hit in the eye and he ends up getting a black eye, but he stays in the game and hits the game winning home run

His team called the titans make it all the way to the national tournament in cooperstown. winning does not mean nothing to him, it would mean more to his dad than to himself. His friend Jaden was reporter and she knew everything about the other teams. His other friend Being was a teammate of josh. Being though that he could hit home runs every game, but really he couldn't. This was probably one of the best books i have ever read. i now love to read more baseball books because of this book. Reading baseball books make reading more fun. They end up winning the whole tournament because the comets tried to cheat and pay the umpires to make bad calls against the titans, but they were later disqualified, and the titans win the championship,

[Jimmy · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book rivals by Tim green is a great book. This book is mainly about baseball and going to this big tournament called Cooperstown. This book is based on three kids and how they want to live their dream on becoming a professional baseball player. On their game to go to cooperstown they have to play the best team in the country and the have a pitcher who throws fast. The pitcher for the other team intentionally hits josh who is the best player of the other team, he gets hit in the eye and he ends up getting a black eye, but he stays in the game and hits the game winning home run. His team called the titans make it all the way to the national tournament in cooperstown. winning does not mean anything to him, it would mean more to his dad than to himself. His friend Jaden was the reporter and she knew everything about the other teams. They end up winning the whole tournament because the comets tried to cheat and pay the umpires to make bad calls against the titans, but they were later disqualified, and the titans win the championship. You would like this book if you love baseball and played at the Cooperstown tournament. You wouldn't like this book if you don't like realistic fiction and sports.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Rivals by Tim Green is a great book. Josh the (main character in the story) is a twelve year old boy who loves baseball. He has a tournament in Cooperstown with his team. Josh got a dirty pitch thrown at him and he has to take a break from baseball. Throughout Josh’s time watching from the sidelines he notices some suspicious activity. At Cooperstown Josh has more to worry about than winning.

Rivals has many twist and turns to make keep you wanting to read more. The book doesn’t have boring parts in it. I like the book’s conflict because it is not like most baseball books where it is all about the win. In this book it was about something different and more exciting. The book’s plot took place on and off the field. The book took parts from when Josh is playing but still told about him beyond baseball.

Even though the book had many good things about it I didn’t like how the book took a simple topic and explained it very thoroughly. I would recommend this book to anyone especially if you like baseball. Rivals had many things that I liked about the book. All in all, I loved the book Rivals and I hope you will too.

[Kylee Copeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was called Rivals by Tim Green. It was and about a boy named Josh who plays baseball for the Titans. He is 12 years old and is playing in a big tournament in Cooperstown. Josh get hit in the face with a 75 mph fastball and is out for 3 weeks until the big tournament starts.He hears that Mickey Mullen junior is playing in the tournament. Mickey Mullen Junior is the son of a famous baseball player named Mickey Mullen. Josh and his team make it to the championship game in Cooperstown. Josh hears that the other coach is bribing the umpires to win the tournament for the Comets ( Mickey Mullen Juniors team.) Josh and his friends try to put a stop to it. Im not going to give the big surprise at the end, but if you want to read this book I recommend it to everybody!

[Tyler O]

Josh the main character is thrilled because his team the Syracuse, Titans made it to the national tournament in Cooperstown. The home of the national baseball Hall of Fame. Winning the tournament would mean the world to his dad who was recently got laid of by his minor league baseball team and now is coaching his team.Winning could mean major endorsement deal for the Titans.But a dirty play and a brutal injury sidelined Josh.But even with the pain Josh spies suspicious tournament activity.Will Josh overcome his injury or will the possible tournament conspiracy cost them.My favorite part in the book is when after the pitcher beans him in the face the next at bat he hits a home run.I recommend this book to people who like sports books and some mystery.

[Om Manghani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Nice book- one of my favorite comfort books that just hooks me in, and never lets me go. I guess my love for sports must add to how much the book sucks me is, but it is still really good.

I enjoyed how real the characters were- and how much like children they were. Even when Josh and his friends made it to the biggest baseball game that they have ever played- they still acted very down to Earth and like many people their age would. I have a feeling Tim Green has played sports, because his descriptions are very realistic.

[Lee Hammond · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a great book for people from the age of 10 and up. This is a really good starting book. Now while you think this book is a starting book it's gonna be boring. No this is one of those starting books that can be interesting through the whole book. The main character Josh and his team the Titans try to compete at the biggest level of his little league career. His team are on their way to the Cooperstown Tournament, to compete for more than just the Tournament.

[Gabe Latog · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rivals by Tim Green is a really good book. What I liked about it was that the author, Tim Green, was able to incorporate Josh's rivals on and off the field. An interesting thing about the story is Josh's battle on the field and his critical injury. But most importantly , I liked how his rival was caught cheating on the field. All in all this book is really likely to keep you reading consistently.

[Ethan Fritch · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is my favorite baseball based book I have ever read. It describes the life of and ordinary boy who gets the opportunity of a life time to play in the little league world series. I give this book a 10/10 no doubt.

[Jackson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I give this book a 5 because it was really exciting reading about the baseball games. I also enjoyed the side story of this book because it added a little suspense

[James · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rivals is a really great book! You should read it because u will have fun reading it. Im pretty sure ones u read the book half way you'll get more interested in it.

[Austin B · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read and enjoyed was Rivals. The author of this book is Tim Green. The reason what inspired him to write this book is because he coaches his son's little league baseball team. The lexile level is 860L.

The main thing about this book a team from California that tries to buy out umpires to be sure that they win the game. Josh the main character watches one of their games. Josh notices that the umpire is making some of the worst calls ever. So this makes Josh suspicious. This is supposed to be the guy that is the main umpire for these tournaments. He is making the worst calls so he wonders what the other umpires are going to do. So his friend Jaden (a girl) writes stuff about what the Titans (the team name) she gets on to the California team and goes with them for a while. She sides to the Comets ( the California team name) because she got pranked by Josh and his friend Benji. So she gets payback on them by siding towards the Comets and she stays over on their side for a while. After she gets back on to the Titans side, she Benji, and Josh decide to figure out for sure whether the Coach of the Comets is paying off the umpire or not. Once they decide to go into the house of the umpire that is getting paid to make the bad calls. They look from outside in the windows to see if they could find the letter. They know what it looks like because they say in person and they recorded it on their phone so they could prove that they caught it on camera. So to prove that they are paying off the umpire they sneak into the umpires house to look for the envelope. After looking for a while they saw it. So they got into the window and then they grab the letter but then Benji screams, so Josh hurries up, jumps out the window and see's what was wrong. It was just a bat that attacked him. But the umpire heard them and ran outside with a shotgun he saw them and shot at them, he missed. So they hid in his boat house and once the guy got closer they started up a boat and left. Then he caught back up to them and then they left. Then they crashed on shore of where the coach was having a bbq party. So once they got on stage with a mic they explained everything on what happened. Then after that they confessed and they got a new umpire for the tourney game.

I liked this book because I myself play baseball. I also liked it because it goes to show that cheaters never get their way. The book is pretty easy but it's not too easy and it's not too hard to read for most people. It was believable because that could happen in real life you never know. The ending was a very happy enjoyable ending. My favorite part is when the Titans won the hall of fame world championship. One connection I made to the book was that I play baseball and the book is about baseball. I would recommend this book to people who like sports especially for people who play baseball. I would also recommend this book to people who like some what of a challenge of reading. I would recommend this book to anyone because Tim Green is such a good author.

[Jordan G · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I read is Rivals by Tim Green. Tim Green is a New York Times best selling author. I can make many connections to the book from me playing baseball. I have made it to state got to walk around in town like Josh and Benji did.
Something the author does is he keeps you into the book. He makes it hard to stop reading. The book has many cliffhangers throughout the book to make the read stay in the book. I like that he gave clues or little hints to let you infer what was going to happen next.
This is a very good book to read. Green did a very good job on this book. I would recommend this book to fifth and sixth grade. I give this book a 4.7 stars. The book was the right level for my reading level. The book was not really believable. The is was a great book I would truly recommend it to you!

[Matthew Lawrence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The last book I just recently read was Rivals by Tim Green. The book was about a boy named Josh who’s dream was to play in coopers town and win it. In the end they did win the tournament but it came with problems like Josh being hit in the eye and getting surgery to being down in a game to get into the tournament. Josh had two best friends named Bennie and Jaden, but Jaden turns on him and goes for his opponent Mikey Mullen Jr.

The book was great and definitely better than the first one with all the events that happened like him getting hit in the face. I wouldn’t change anything if I could because the book is really good on its own.

I would recommend this to other baseball players and people who love a good story. I would also recommend this book to middles schoolers.

[Cooper Palmer]

I really liked this book. One of the reasons I liked this book is because it was written by Tim Green. He is the best author to write sports books. Another reason I liked this book is because it was showing a good lesson to all athletes that hard work pays off. Josh had an injury that happened in the season but he didn't quit. He kept doing his hardest and finally after a little while they were in the championship. I know from my personal experiences with baseball that its not a very easy sport. When you get injured in any sport it's hard to recover. But Josh never quit in the book. Without him quitting him and his team went and won the championship. Overall I think this book was good. I love the author that writes these books.

[Peyton Shumway · Rating 5 out of 5]

i Really liked this book, and would recommend it to anyone who loves the game of baseball and mystery. This book had 284 pages. My favorite character was benji. Benji is a goofy kid that loves sports. his best friend is josh who is the main character and the star of the team. Josh is so good he has been accused of using steroids. Because he hit 4 balls well over the fence. One of them while having a concussion from a bean ball. The setting of the story is at a campground they are staying at for a tournament, And their rival the comets. the coach of this team is baseball legend and movie star mickey mullen, and the star of the team his son mickey jr. That is the book i read this term and why I like it.

[Shoma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Being a baseball fan myself, reading this book got me hyped more than any other book. I think that the rising action is the most important part of this book. This book taught me that winning a game (or anything competitive) comes with accomplishing a greater goal, even if you don't realize it at first. The intense storyline created great imagery in my head, and that was probably also one of the author's intentions.
I would love to read more of Tim Green's sports series, especially because the author used to be a sports player. Nothing is better than a book that comes from real experience.

#HISReads #Book-a-Week Challenge

[Victor N. · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rivals by Tim Green is a realistic fiction book about the journey of a boy named Josh at the biggest baseball tournament of his life while still dealing with social problems. Josh is thrilled when all his hard training pays off in a big way and his team, the Syracuse Titans, makes it to the National Tournament in Cooperstown, home of the National Baseball Hall of Fame. More is on the line for Josh than just a trophy. Winning would mean everything to his dad, who’s recently been laid off by his minor leagues team and is now Josh’s coach. Winning could mean a major endorsement deal for the Titans, and the attention of big league scouts. I give this book a 5 out of 5 stars.

[Dylan B]

I read the book rivals by tim green It is about a kid who likes to play baseball. Textile level 6-8

The book is about a kid named Josh and he played baseball and he was on a good baseball team. He struggled at the start and he practiced to become better. He gets injured mid season. Nobody on the team liked Josh either. In the end he hits a game winning homerun to the nationals tournament.

This was a really good book.it gets boring at the start but it gets better towards the end. When his whole team hated him and he hit the game winning homerun.I like the ending because he was invited to the homerun derby.

[Landon Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rivals is one of the best books I have read by Tim Green.It is a real page turner with all of its suspense. Tim Green's funny characters characters like Benji make it funny also. This character makes the book better because jokes around with everyone and the jokes are actually funny and not some jokes that some author made up. Like the time when he told Jaden another girl there age that is a reporter for there team that she had an interview with this one famous guy named Bob Costas. If you give this book a try it might be one of your favorites too.