Two-Minute Drill

By Mike Lupica

Sport: Football

Rating: 3 3/4 stars

Reviewed by Noelle

This is one book in the new series of Mike Lupica's Comeback Kids. Steve Parry is the new kid at school and probably one of the smartest kids in the sixth grade. It is not a great combination, and Jimmy Dolan, the football coach's son, bullies him mercilessly. But one day Chris Conlan, the coolest kid in the grade and the quarterback for the football team, saves him from Jimmy and a friendship is born. Steve finally has a friend he can share his secret with: that although Steve can't catch, throw or run on the football field particularly well, he can kick. Chris convinces Steve to try out for the team, but Steve makes him promise not to reveal his kicking abilities. Meanwhile, Chris faces his own problem: he is dyslexic and can barely read. If he can't get his grades up in the next couple of weeks, his parents will pull him from the football team. Can the brain and the star athlete form a team that will make them both winners? Sports fans will enjoy the fast-moving plot and football action. Readers may enjoy another Comeback Kids story, Hot Hand, or one of Lupica's other novels, like Travel Team or Heat (see reviews).