The Turnover by Mike Lupica (English) Paperback Book

Description: The Turnover by Mike Lupica "When a young basketball star decides to research his grandfather--and coach--for a school project, he uncovers a decades-old scandal that changes everything he thought he knew about his grandfather"-- FORMAT Paperback LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description From New York Times bestselling author Mike Lupica comes a story about a young basketball player confronting the truth about his hero and grappling with right and wrong on and off the court.Gramps is Lucass hero, which is second only to the fact that he is also Lucass basketball coach. Gramps coached the team to victory in the championships last year, and when he decides to come out of retirement to coach another season, Lucas is thrilled. This season will absolutely be the greatest yet. So when his English teacher challenges the class to write a biography of the person they most admire, Lucas cant think of anyone hed rather write about. Except...Gramps is being cagey. He avoids every question Lucas asks, and gets angry every time Lucas brings up his past as a hotshot basketball player. Lucas cant help but wonder—is there something Gramps is trying to hide? And if there is, will Lucas be prepared to face the truth about the man he thought he knew? With basketball championships fast approaching, time is running out for Lucas to decide. Author Biography Mike Lupica is the author of multiple bestselling books for young readers, including the Home Team series, QB 1, Heat, Travel Team, Million-Dollar Throw, and The Underdogs. He has carved out a niche as the sporting worlds finest storyteller. Mike lives in Connecticut with his wife and their four children. When not writing novels, he writes for Daily News (New York) and is an award-winning sports commentator. You can visit Mike Lupica at MikeLupicaBooks.com. Excerpt from Book Chapter One ONE Lucas Winston loved basketball the most when it was just him and Gramps in the park. He also loved being on the seventh-grade town team in Claremont. He loved playing in the Twin Lakes League season, against all the other town teams in their area. He loved the fact that his sixth-grade team had won the Twin Lakes championship last year. And he sure didnt hate that his best friend, Ryan Moretti, was the most gifted big man in the league, and a player who knew what to do with the ball when Lucas passed it to him. "No two boys your age ever ran the pick-and-roll better," Gramps said to Lucas one time. Gramps had a way of making almost anything into the best hed ever seen or known, starting with the French toast hed had for breakfast that morning at the Claremont Diner. "Trust me," Gramps said. "You know how they say, Ball dont lie? When it comes to analyzing basketball, I dont either." "I know," Lucas said. "Nobody knows more about basketball than you do." Last year Sam Winston had been the only grandfather coaching in the Twin Lakes League, and the Claremont Wolves had won their first title since before Lucas was even born. The parents on the board of directors were so happy with the job hed done, they asked him to come back and coach the seventh graders this season, even though hed announced he was retiring. Lucas never believed Grampss heart was really in retiring. He knew hed never stop loving basketball the way he did, and would always want to teach it. So Lucas had been the one to talk him out of it. At the time he said to his grandfather, "You and I are the best team in town. And Im not letting you break up that team." Lucas believed it too. He knew Gramps had taught him as much about being a good teammate as he had about being a good point guard. Persuading Gramps to come back was just one more way of being the best teammate he could be. Lucass grandfather was really the only father Lucas had ever known. His real father had died of cancer right after Lucas was born. So they had always been a team, and not just in basketball. Sam Winston had never been too busy for Lucas, even before hed retired from driving a USPS truck and delivering the mail. It wasnt too cold tonight under the lights at Westley Park. Tryouts were over for this years Wolves. The roster had been set. Their first game, against Homestead, was scheduled for next Saturday morning, in the new gym at Claremont Middle School. Lucas and Gramps were working on what his grandfather called "old-school stuff." "Which some people would probably call old-man stuff,?" Sam Winston said. "But you always tell me that the fundamentals never get old," Lucas said. "You just have to adapt them to the times," Gramps said. He smiled. With his white hair and white beard, when he smiled he always reminded Lucas a little bit of Santa Claus. "You know I didnt like the three-point shot when they first shoved it down my throat. And I cant say as I love it even now. But Im smart enough to know that if all you do is look back, youre going to get left behind, no matter how much you love the game." They were both dressed in hoodies and sweatpants. Gramps was wearing one with USPS on the front. Lucas was wearing the purple Lakers hoodie that Gramps had bought him to replace the one from the Cavs hed given Lucas when LeBron James was still playing in Cleveland. LeBron, even though he was the one getting older now, was Grampss favorite out of all the modern NBA players. Hed become one of Lucass favorites too. Gramps said it wasnt LeBrons size or his strength that made him love LeBrons game so much. It was his unselfishness. It hadnt helped the Lakers very much in his first season in Los Angeles. But the point Gramps kept hitting with Lucas was that the best player in the NBA was also the best teammate. "He never takes a shot if his teammate has a better one," Gramps said. "My coach always tells me thats the first rule of offensive basketball," Lucas said, knowing he was about to quote Gramps to Gramps. "If youre open, shoot the darn ball. If youve got a teammate more open than you, pass it and let him shoot the darn ball. Or her." Gramps smiled again. "And who said that first," Gramps said, "even if nobody but me remembers?" "Coach Red Auerbach of the Boston Celtics," Lucas said, feeling as if he were answering a question in class. "And who was Red Auerbach?" Gramps said. "The greatest NBA coach of all time," Lucas said. Now he smiled. "Even if Phil Jackson came along later to win more championships." That was another thing Gramps was big on: having Lucas understand the history of the game. Looking back, he told Lucas, would help him understand how basketball had changed. "I know people act as if those old Boston Celtics that Red coached played their home games at Jurassic Park," Gramps said. "But Im going to tell you something right now: Red Auerbach loved Michael Jordan and he would have loved LeBron." Lucas didnt care if his friends didnt love basketball history the way he did. Gramps cared; thats what mattered to him. And if he did, Lucas did. Tonight at Westley Park the two of them had spent a fair amount of time working on the high pick-and-roll, which was so old school, Gramps joked he wasnt even sure they had schools when teams started using the play. Lucas and Ryan had run it all last season, and Gramps said they were going to wear teams out running it again this season. Gramps said the truth was that if you started your offense that way and ran it right, it didnt matter whether the other team knew it was coming or not. Gramps was playing the part of Ryan tonight. Over and over hed limp up to the top of the key on his aching knees, wincing as he did. Those knees, Lucas knew, were the oldest things about his grandfather. Not his mind. Not his attitude. Not even his heart. Just the knees. He never begged off playing. He never complained about his knees, even though Lucas could see the pain on his face when hed move around a lot like this. As soon as Gramps called for the ball, Lucas tossed it to him. "Switch!" Gramps yelled, passing the ball to Lucas as he moved to his right. It meant the imaginary player guarding him was jumping out to guard Lucas. Lucas didnt hesitate as Gramps spun away from him and hobbled down the left side of the lane toward the basket. He lofted a pass over the smaller imaginary player who would have switched over to guard Gramps, hit Gramps perfectly in stride--if you could even call what his grandfather did striding --and Gramps put a left-handed layup off the backboard and gently through the net. "Now thats what Im talking about!" Sam Winston said. "Did I get the pass away quickly enough?" Lucas asked. Gramps hated it when you were late exploiting an opening the defense had presented to you. He who hesitates , Gramps liked to say, loses an easy bucket. "Cant even remember the ball touching your hands," Gramps said. Lucas ran and collected the ball so Gramps didnt have to, dribbled back to the top of the key himself, giving his grandfather a low-five as he passed him. "Lets do it again," Gramps said. This time Gramps held the ball high over his head and told Lucas to make a sharp cut so close he could brush hips with Gramps on the way by. Lucas did that, streaking for the basket down the right side of the lane. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his grandfather turn, pivot to his right, and then hit Lucas with a perfect chest pass before Lucas laid the ball in. "All night long," Sam Winston said. Fine with me, Lucas thought. The night air was starting to get much colder. Lucas barely noticed. By now hed worked up a good sweat. He was as into the drills they were running as if this were an official practice, and his teammates were out here with him. But it was better than that. It was basketball and it was Gramps. Lucas loved his mom, totally and completely. He knew how difficult it had been for her without a partner, trying to be two parents at once. He knew how hard she had tried to tell him about his father, trying to tell the story of his life through old photographs and old home videos. Gramps had done the same. Lucas understood they were trying to explain the person and the father hed lost. He could see how much they both had loved his dad. He sometimes imagined how awesome it would have been to have both his parents and his grandfather around. But as hard as he tried, he couldnt feel a sense of loss about someone--and something--hed never had. It was why he loved Gramps as much as he did. Lucas knew he was trying to be grandfather and father the way his mom was trying to be father and mother to Lucas. And that was all right. Sometimes he would get sad when hed look at the pictures of his dad holding him when he was a baby. Or looking at a video of his dad holding him on his first Christmas. But he was still happier with what he had than sad about what hed never had. Hed read one time that sometimes you didnt have to go looking for heroes, because they found you. He had his mom. He had his grandfather. He had a lot. When they were finished working on the pick-and-roll, Gramps kept feeding Luca Details ISBN1534421599 Author Mike Lupica Language English ISBN-10 1534421599 ISBN-13 9781534421592 Pages 272 Audience Age 8-12 Year 2021 Format Paperback Publisher Simon & Schuster Place of Publication New York Country of Publication United States Illustrations 5-c gloss cvr (spfx: 5th color) NZ Release Date 2021-05-11 US Release Date 2021-05-11 UK Release Date 2021-05-11 Edition Description Reprint Publication Date 2021-05-11 Imprint Simon & Schuster Alternative 9781534421585 DEWEY FIC Audience Children / Juvenile AU Release Date 2021-05-31 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. 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