I wasn't really expecting to love this book, but I ended up finding it hard to put down. It flows. Short, engaging, 2 perspectives that are really good at being 2 perspectives, and strong family dynamics for the win. Had some funny moments, had some genuine celebration of both word games and basketball. Great fun! ( )

This funny book is about two sets of twins who play basketball on the same team. Will they all be able to get along?

Basketball is the least represented sport in children's literature, and this book fits the bill perfectly. Besides [a: Mike Lupica|2607|Mike Lupica|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1260484461p2/2607.jpg] books, there isn't much else out there.

This one is fun because it's about two fraternal twin brothers who are exact opposites. One is an athlete and one is a brainiac. Owen is the star in his family. He loves basketball like his dad. Unfortunately, there's a new coach and he's making all previous team players tryout like everyone else. Owen is annoyed. But what's more annoying is the coach seeing his tall brother and ordering him to tryout. Aside from Russell having zero athletic ability, he's the captain of the Master of the Minds team and he's not interested in playing sports.

In order to save his brother from embarrassment, Owen and his dad agree to coach Russell. It's not until Russell gets new gym clothes and a pair of rockin Nikes that he starts to get a twinge of excitement about the tryouts. Then, he figures out that even though he can't dribble worth a darn, he's good at blocking shots. Russell makes the team and Owen begins to feel overshadowed by his brother. His jealousy reaches critical mass, leading to actions that irritate everyone, including his coach, teammates, Russell and his parents. Russell is ready to quick basketball. But the team needs him. Owen has to change his attitude, apologize, and get his brother back on the team.

This book should be a winner with all kids who like sports. ( )

Excellent: flawed characters who are likeable, lessons learned without being preachy, "brains and brawn" shown as complementary, not exclusive, attributes and in a non-stereotypical way. I really don't like sports, including basketball, and I don't like reading sports books, but I really enjoyed this book. One to read with my kids when they get older (upper elementary and middle school aged). ( )

This is a really nice story about two brothers who are in middle school and are trying to figure out how they fit in. They both think they know their roles (one is an athlete and one is a scholar) until a new basketball coach shakes things up. I think it has a good message and would be nice paired up with "The Fourteenth Goldfish" by Jennifer Holm or "Goodbye Stranger" by Rebecca Stead, which also have themes of finding where you belong in middle school. ( )