Toby Wheeler

January 1, 2008
Having evolved from a "gym rat" playing pickup basketball at the neighborhood rec center to a member of his middle school team, Toby works to get off the bench and impress his archrival from another school. This engaging sports story gains depth from subplots involving Toby's tricky relationships with his former best friend and with the coach's daughter.

(Copyright 2008 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)

September 1, 2007
Gr 4-7-Toby Wheeler is a self-professed gym rat-he plays basketball down at the rec center but has never played for his school. However, when he meets the new coach, Toby decides to try for the team. He becomes the 12th manthe last one ever sent in to a gameand resigns himself to being a benchwarmer. However, through Coach Applewhite's tutoring and the help of the other boys, Toby learns to be a real team player. A subplot concerns Toby's dad, who works for the local lumber company, and his mother, an ecological activist protesting the lumber company's practices. Overall, the story is engaging, but too predictable and lacking in depth. Standard sports themes dominatethe underdog team wins the championship in the final shot; the team's star realizes he has to play for himself, not to appease his father; and the new coach learns to trust his players. This novel will appeal to readers who are looking for something one step beyond Matt Christopher's books."Diana Pierce, Running Brushy Middle School, Cedar Park, TX"

Copyright 2007 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2007
Eighth-grader Toby Wheeler is happy being a gym-rat playing pickup basketball games with his friends, so when the newly hired coach suggests he try out for the team, Toby is tempted. For one thing, it mightbring him closer to his best friend, JJ, who is already a star. Lately, JJ has been ignoring Toby and treating him like a little kid. So Toby signs up, but the experience is not quite what he had in mind. Instead of being a player, hes thetwelfth man, the benchwarmer. Moreover, his budding relationship withrecent arrivalMeganbecomes bumpy whenhe finds out the coachis Megans dad.Thisdebut novel hitsmost of the right notes. Only the subplot about Tobys parents andthe conflict between his job in the lumber industry and hers as a conservationist seems unwieldy; otherwise, theres plenty of basketball and the requisite amount of girl-boy interaction. With so much written about the friction between girl friends, its good to have a book that acknowledges that left-out feeling happens to boys, too.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2007, American Library Association.)