"A dramatic and
inspirational story."
—The Los Angeles Times
"Like the best...sports novels
of Robert Lipsyte, Chris Crutcher,
or Walter Dean Myers, this novel
goes well beyond the issues
involved in a game...
Authentic...suspenseful...excellent..."
—Dr. Marjorie M. Kaiser,
The ALAN Review
"Choosing Up Sides
is a fast-moving, hard-hitting story.
This first novel
by John H. Ritter is a winner!"
—Dr. M. Jerry Weiss
Professor Emeritus
Jersey City State College |
Winner of the 1999
IRA Children's Book Award |
"It made a hush come. It was like a giant cloud full of quiet had blown up and smothered every single shout.
They all stopped and looked at me.
"You see that?" I heard one say.
And I knew I'd done wrong. I'd tossed that baseball straighter and farther than any rock I'd ever thrown, and I was so sorry about it. How I's raised, it wasn't allowed.
Bad enough throwing that baseball. But I had used the Devil's arm."
(excerpt from Choosing Up Sides) |