Maddox, Jake. Soccer Step-up. (Jake Maddox JV Girls)

Maddox, Jake.  Soccer Step-up. (Jake Maddox JV Girls)  Capstone Publishers  2017  96p  $18.99    ISBN 978-1-4965-3675-4    ms/jr   Sports  VG-BN     

The middle-school girls’ soccer program is canceled due to budget cuts. The older girls on the team get a chance to try out for the high-school JV team.  Lack of self-confidence, concern about fitting into a high-school program, and a “mean girls” attitude on the part of the high-school students make for a hard transition. By using their leadership skills and reaching the realization that they are better working together than individually showboating, the team comes together for a win. A hi/lo book for middle-school readers, this will appeal to all middle-school girl soccer players.         

The series Jake Maddox JV Girls contains four titles about girls sports at the middle-school and JV levels. The hi/lo format, fast action and positive message about teamwork will resonate with middle-school girls.  Strongly recommended for middle-school collections, as books on girls’ sports are not as prevalent as are fiction books about boys’ sports.

Summary: When middle-school girls’ soccer is canceled due to budget constraints, the girls get a chance to try out for the  high-school JV team.  For the three that make the team, it is a difficult transition, but teamwork wins the day. Grades 5-8.        

Soccer-Fiction, Teamwork-Fiction                 --Lois McNicol

Maddox, Jake. Skateboard Idol. (Jake Maddox JV)

Maddox, Jake.  Skateboard Idol. (Jake Maddox JV)  Capstone/Stone Arch  2016  96p  $18.99  ISBN 978-1-4965-2631-1  elem/ms  Conflict    VG-BN

Griff and Annika are both excellent skateboarders. When a hometown hero who made it on the national skateboarding competitive circuit returns to town, they are very excited. A treasure hunt for three golden skateboards is under way, with daily clues given until all three boards are found.  When only one more board is left to be discovered, Griff and Annika read the clue together, and Annika is the one to decipher the location of the golden board, but Griff gets there first and claims it. Discord in their group of friends, who are rivals, makes Griff rethink his decision, and he admits that Annika solved the riddle and should be the one to skate with the famous hometown skater. Action on the skateboards, the intensity of the treasure hunt, and social interactions are all very well executed and will keep the reader engaged. Discussion questions, writing prompts, a glossary and skating facts complete the book.  The book is appropriate for grades 4-8, but it could also be a hi/lo book for grades 8-9, as the reading level is 3rd-4th grade.  

Summary: When skateboarders Griff and Annika find that a famed skateboarder is coming to town and will offer three winners of a treasure hunt the opportunity to skate with him, conflict arises between the friends.  Gr 4-8. Fans of Maddox’s previous shorter novels on sports will be able to continue reading his work into middle school as the new series, Jake Maddox JV, is set in middle school. The competitiveness, skills, and hard-core skateboarding action found in the earlier Tony Hawk book series continues in this series.

Skateboarding-Fiction, Competition-Fiction, Friendship-Fiction

--Lois McNicol

Softball Surprise.

Maddox, Jake.  Softball Surprise.  (Jake Maddox Girl Sports Stories)  Capstone/Stone Arch  2014  72p  $23.99      ISBN 978-1-4342-4141-2  elem  Sports fiction  VG

Elementary students who enjoy sports fiction and softball will enjoy this title.  Students meet Jo Adler, a girl who loves playing softball and hopes to get selected to play for the Red Angels this softball season.  When team assignments are provided, Jo is disappointed that she was selected to play for the Yellow Sonics, but since she knows a few players, including her friend Delia, she is at ease.  Determined to make the Yellow Sonics a better team, Jo and Delia practice softball skills together and with their new teammates.  When Jo overhears about the Red Angels having won so many games, she starts to think differently about wanting to be a part of the Red Angels.  During the season, with an injury to the Red Angels’ shortstop, Jo is offered her spot on the team. With the information Jo now has about the Red Angels, she decides to stay on the Yellow Sonics and help make them become the best team in the league.

The author includes black-and-white illustrations, easy-to-comprehend text, a glossary, discussion questions, writing prompts, and more information about the sport of softball.

For schools that use Accelerated Reader, an existing test is available for students to take (AR Quiz # 163482).

Eight easy-to-read stories have been published in this series so far.  They emphasize speed, skill, and fair play.  Readers discover that an athlete's inner game, persistence, and courage are just as important as a steady hand or a chance for a goal.      

Summary: “Jo is disappointed when she is not placed on the Red Angels in the summer softball league, but when she is offered the chance to switch teams, Jo has to decide if she will leave her friends and play for the ‘winning’ team, or win with the Sonics.”   

Softball-Fiction                                --Charleen Forba-Mayer

Maddox, Jake. Cheer Captain

Maddox, Jake.   Cheer Captain         

Stone Arch see Capstone      2011   64p     18.04  978-1-43422-551-1

elem    Realistic Fiction          Jake Maddox:Girls Sports Stories(Stone Arch)      VG

            ╥Julia is nervous about starting a new school, even though her best friend

Ava has offered to help her practice for cheerleading tryouts, but when Julia

learns they both want to become captain, she fears their friendship will not

survive the competition.╙    In this title, Julia and her family have moved

across town to River City East and she will begin a new middle school.  Luckily

for Julia, her best friend Ava also attends and was on the cheerleading squad

for the past two years.  In her old school, Julia had been the captain of her

cheerleading squad and now she along with the other girls must try out for the

team again this year.  Since the two girls are best friends, Ava loaned Julia a

uniform and together they practiced all their moves for the upcoming tryout. 

When cheerleading tryouts occurred, Ava╒s routine did not go as well as planned. 

Upset with her routine, she left the tryout.  Julia╒s tryout went very well and

when the list came out with cheerleading squad members, both girls made the team,

and Julia was selected as the team╒s captain.  Even though Ava did not say she

was upset with the decision, her actions proved otherwise.  Ava╒s behavior and

actions reflected her disappointment and jealousy.  With the way Ava treated

Julia, Julia decided to quit the cheerleading squad, since her friendship with

Ava meant more to her than the team.  Ava, along with her teammates soon

realized that they needed Julia as their captain and Ava and Julia made up and

the team was able to enter the cheerleading competition.  With the team╒s

practice and commitment, they placed first in their competition.

Includes black-and-white illustrations, information about the author and

illustrator, a glossary of terms, three discussion questions and writing prompts,

and basic cheerleading terminology.          Series includes 74 sports stories with

the emphasis on speed, skill, and fair play. The young athletes in these books

face obstacles not just on the gridiron, the court, the ice, or the half pipe,

but meet mental and social challenges as well.  Forba-Mayer, Charleen