Praise for Million-Dollar Throw:
“Lupica's football action engages, and his delineation of the athlete's thought process and emotional highs and lows of competition feels visceral and real.” –Kirkus Reviews
“Lupica explores the themes of believing in yourself and handling pressure. Teens who love sports fiction . . . will find this book a rapid, enjoyable read.” –VOYA
“Lupica injects plenty of suspenseful sports action into the plot and creates a cast of uniformly likable characters whose faith in teamwork and in each other ultimately earns handsome rewards for all. A natural for graduates of Matt Christopher's sports stories.” –Booklist
In 2005, an army veteran won $1 million by throwing a football through a target during a halftime show at a college football game. Lupica (The Big Field) inserts a 13-year-old in the contestant role and moves the action to Massachusetts, where QB Nate Brodie stars for his eighth-grade team and idolizes the New England Patriots' Tom Brady. The pressure to win is intense—Nate's father has lost his job, the house is close to foreclosure, and his best friend, Abby, needs money to go to a special school since she is rapidly going blind. Though the entire cast is a bit too perfect, many kids will relate to Nate's fears about his family's finances: “You were going along, having what felt like a pretty cool life, and then all of a sudden came the economy trying to wreck everything.” The ups and downs of Nate's peewee football team provide sports play-by-play, but the thread that will pull readers through is whether Nate can save his and Abby's families with one well-aimed spiral on Thanksgiving night. Ages 10–up. (Nov.)
Lupica injects plenty of suspenseful sports action into the plot and creates a cast of uniformly likable characters whose faith in teamwork and in each other ultimately earns handsome rewards for all.
Gr 6–8—Lupica delivers another smooth, well-paced, character-driven novel. Thirteen-year-old Nate Brodie's life would seem to be the stuff of adolescent boys' dreams: he is the star quarterback of his school football team and has a great relationship with his best friend and soulmate, Abby McCall. However, all is not smooth sailing. The Brodies are in danger of losing their home in the economic downturn, and Abby's eyesight is failing due to a rare congenital disease. Nate thinks he may have the opportunity to solve all of his problems when he wins the chance to make a million dollars by throwing a football through a small target during halftime at a pro football game. Unfortunately, his quarterbacking skills suddenly and mysteriously desert him just as he is preparing for his big moment. With the support of his family and friends, he fights his way back and regains the confidence he needs to face the challenges in his life. While the serious issues raised about the effects of economic uncertainty on families are resolved a tad too easily, youngsters are likely to accept this as just a good, entertaining read.—Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT
No matter how complicated things get, Nate Brodie, 13, can always count on the power and accuracy of his football arm. Until, suddenly, he can't, just when he's won the opportunity to score $1,000,000 if he can throw a football through a 20-inch hole during the televised halftime break at a Patriots game. Normally, this feat, though difficult, would be within his remarkable abilities, and he would find fun in the challenge. But tension has been building for a while, sapping his confidence, and his arm is really showing it. The recession has taken a toll on the Brodies, and Nate's family, now in financial distress, could really use the money. Nate is also upset because his adored best friend Abby is rapidly going blind. Sadly, Abby is both a perfect and perfectly unbelievable character, and the scenes with her are mawkish and icky. Still, Lupica's football action engages, and his delineation of the athlete's thought process and emotional highs and lows of competition feels visceral and real. (Fiction. 10 & up)
Nate Brodie is a 13-year-old star high school quarterback whose family is facing tough economic hardships. To make matters worse, at the same time that Nate mysteriously loses his ability to throw the ball, he wins the chance to make a million dollars by throwing a football through a small hole during halftime of a New England Patriots game. Through this tumultuous journey Nate learns more about himself, and his ability to lead, than he would ever have imagined. Narrator Jeffrey Brick gives unique vocal signatures to the various characters he portrays in this story. Brick also dramatizes key moments of the story by altering the tempo and pitch of his voice. J.P.D. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
