Sunshine State Book Review: Athlete vs. Mathlete

Athlete vs. Mathlete by W.C. Mack is probably my favorite book so far!  I love the characters, the main and the secondary!  They are real children.  They have mood swings, they're loyal, they worry, they have fun, they make mistakes.  I think it's very important for kids (especially my student's age) to see that you're not the only one going through these feelings but it is important how you handle them and that some mistakes cannot be undone with a sorry.  I also liked how the books shows the positives to both cliques: the "jocks" and the "nerds."  There is a great life lesson in here as well; life isn't always fair but how you deal with it is what matters.

Summary from Scholastic:
Owen Evans lights up the scoreboards.  His brother, Russell, rocks the school boards.  These twin brothers couldn't be more different.  They've long kept the peace by going their separate ways, but all that is about to change.  The new basketball coach recruits Russell for the seventh grade team and a jealous Owen has to fight to stay in the game.  When someone tries to steal Russell's spot as captain of the mathlete team, will the two be able to put aside their differences in order to save his position?  Or will they be sidelined?

This is a cute little book trailer that might help interest your boys!

Genre: Realistic Fiction
Lexile: 610
Grade Level: Grades 3-5 (3.4)
Pages: 208
Skill: Point of View (the chapter jumps between Owen and Russ' point of view)
Food: Doughnuts (it's the best seller in the Mathlete's bake sale, even if the "enemy" brought them)

Athlete vs. Mathlete is definitely one of those books that will appeal to boys!  We all know how hard it is to get them to read and this will do the trick, even if he's not an athlete or a mathlete ;o)  One of my absolute favorite things about this book is that it's a series!  I hate it when my kids fall in love with a book and want to keep the adventure going, only to find out that it's a stand alone book.  Athlete vs. Mathlete has two other books in it's series: Double Dribble and Time-Out!  Click on any of the photos to find out more info!

        

If you would like a copy of the award for reading this book click here to grab your free copy!  There are three different versions: SRC test, AR test and just reading the book.

Next up on our Sunshine State Review is Alien in My Pocket: Blast Off!