juvenile fiction / sports & recreation / football

Twelve-year-old Tommy Gallagher, the bravest and toughest football player on the field, faces his biggest battle ever when his father, a Boston firefighter, is fatally injured while rescuing a child.

"With both good speed and good hands, wide receiver Brock Ripley should be a natural for the varsity team, but he shies from physical contact. When his issues get him cut from varsity, he also loses his friendship with star quarterback Hunter Gates. Now a target for bullying, Brock struggles to overcome his fears and discover that, in his own way, he is brave enough"--Provided by publisher.

When Coach Coop, a former star player for the Dallas Cowboys, starts exhibiting side effects from the many concussions he suffered while playing professionally, twelve-year-old wide receiver Clay Hollis becomes determined to help him get through the football season until Thanksgiving, when Coach plans to attend a ceremony honoring him and his former Super Bowl-winning teammates.

Told from two viewpoints, Derek Fitzpatrick, kicked out of boarding school, must move with his stepmother to her childhood home in Illinois, where he meets Ashtyn Parker, who may be able to achieve her dream of a football scholarship with bad boy Derek's help.