Gr 7 Up-A star pitcher's best buddy must find a way to help his friend and redefine his own goals when a line drive injures the athlete and dashes their dreams of glory. A tough and tender coming-of-age story with plenty of play-by-play action. (July) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr 7 Up-As a "can't miss" pitching prospect, Todd Bannister has scouts, agents, and recruiters begging for his attention and, as a good-looking, self-assured star athlete, he has fellow students and many adults doing the same. All of this comes to an abrupt end when he is hit in the face by a line drive and loses an eye. His attempt to come back is unsuccessful as he can no longer control his pitches and is pounded unmercifully whenever he is put into a game. Initially angry and bitter, he eventually comes to a kind of acceptance of his new status and takes the first steps to getting on with his life. Todd is a fascinating character, by turns conceited and considerate, cruel and kind, thoughtful and thoughtless. With just a few deft brush strokes, Johnson demonstrates how a basically decent kid can succumb to the blandishments of an adoring public, accept their adulation as his due, and even use his position to manipulate people. The book is narrated by Todd's best friend and biggest supporter, Paulie Lockwood, who must come to terms with the way the changes in Todd's life affect his own. As Todd works through his tragic situation and his hubris gives way to a hard-won wisdom, readers will respond with empathy and compassion. This compelling work transcends the category of sports fiction. Its characters are complex, rounded, and fully realized, and its themes are universal. An outstanding novel.-Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. From: Reed Elsevier Inc. Copyright Reed Business Information

Gr. 5^-8. In a small town near Albany, New York, Paulie and Todd have been best friends forever. Todd is a marvelous high-school pitcher, surrounded by scouts and acclaim; Paulie is his anchor and sidekick, full of baseball stats and lore. When Todd is hit in a game and loses an eye, we see Paulie's desperate attempts to get his friend back to the mound. Readers will figure out before Paulie does that how Todd sees himself is crucial to Paulie's own self-image. The story explores many, perhaps too many, paths: Todd's ex-girlfriend Melissa's encouragement of Paulie's sportswriting for the school paper; Todd's practicing pitching in secret, only to fall apart when he himself hits a batter; Paulie's rabid fear both of computers and of the concept of college. The two things above all that make this book worth reading are its clear sense of the power and pleasure of baseball, and its gentle exploration of the mutual love between the geeky sidekick and the golden boy through the perilous shoals of adolescence. --GraceAnne A. DeCandido From: Syndetics Solutions, Inc. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Scott Johnson, a long-suffering Cubs fan, was born in Chicago, and studied at Indiana University and the University of Massachusetts.
His previous novels are One of the Boys, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults in 1992, and Overnight Sensation. He is an English and creative writing teacher at Pleasantville High School in Westchester County, New York, where characters not unlike the ones in his novels are sometimes known to roam the halls.
Scott Johnson lives in Mahopac, New York, with his wife, Susan, and their three sons, Ethan, Guthrie, and Caleb. Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.

Part 1 Personal Assistant	p. 1
Part 2 The Hot-Stove League	p. 69
Part 3 Control	p. 139
Part 4 Just Like the Laduzinsky Brothers	p. 189

Distributed by Syndetic Solutions, Inc.