Sticks - Softcover

Bauer, Joan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0698119339 ISBN 13: 9780698119338

Publisher: Puffin, 2002

Synopsis

Mickey's family owns the neighborhood pool hall, and he's been playing since before he could talk. Now that he's in fifth grade, he's determined to win the Junior Nine-Ball Championship and cream obnoxious Buck Pender. Problem is, Mickey's ten and Buck's thirteen-and could eat him for a snack. Even with his friend Arlen's help, Mickey doesn't stand a chance. Then Joe Alvarez shows up at the pool hall. He's a fantastic player, and decides to sign on as Mickey's pool coach. But it all depends on one person: Mickey. Can he beat the odds?

"Good characters, humor, and an engaging plot make this a solid piece of middle-grade fiction." (Booklist)

About this title

Review:

Breaking, bank shots, slices, and safeties—-fifth grader Mickey Vernon can shoot pool better than some guys twice his age. His philosophy is simple: "I think a lot of the world's problems could be solved by a couple of guys shooting a few racks down at the local hall." But sometimes that's hard to remember when he's facing down seventh-grade bully Buck Pender. Buck is determined to beat Mickey in the annual youth tournament down at Vernon's, the pool hall owned and operated by Mickey's grandma Poppy. And he just might do it, too. Except Mickey's got a secret weapon. Joseph Alvarez, a big rig trucker and family friend, has returned to town, and he was coached by the best pool player on the nine-ball professional circuit--Mickey's dad, who died shortly after Mickey was born. So with the help of Joseph and his two best friends, 10-year-old math genius Arlen and magician extraordinaire Francine, Mickey just might have a shot at the championship. Then Buck baits him into playing a game in which Mickey badly sprains his stick hand, just three short weeks before the tournament. Has Mickey just scratched the cue ball of his dreams?

Fun, folksy, and big-hearted, Joan Bauer's first novel for middle-grade readers is sweeter than a 90-degree bank shot off the rail and into the corner pocket. Mickey's unselfconscious and humorous narration ranks with that of Archie in How I Became a Writer and Oggie Learned to Drive by Janet Taylor Lisle or Peter in Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume. (Ages 9 to 12) --Jennifer Hubert

From the Publisher:

With the help of his grandmother, his dead father's best friend, and his own best friend--a math whiz--Mickey prepares to compete in the most important pool championship of his life, despite his mother's reservations.

About this edition

• Publisher: Puffin
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0698119339
• ISBN 13: 9780698119338
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192