"QB1" Another great story by celebrated author Mike Lupica. Will Jake Cullen fall into a lonely path or be the great player he can be?

Jake Cullen is a freshman in a Texas high school. His brother Wyatt won the football state championship. His dad Troy Cullen is a local legend and NFL star. Needless to say they are a football family, Jake has always been talented and loves the game he aspires to be like his brother and father. However Troy is much more interested in Wyatt's college game. In Jakes grade there are two talented quarterbacks Jake and Casey Lindell. They had a face off to see who would start in their next game. Jake won and became the starting quarterback. Jake felt lots of pressure in their first game because he felt the need to live up to his family name. During the game Jake noticed his dad was not there, this deeply saddened him but did not stop him from playing. In the end of the game Jake ran for the game winning touchdown and took a nasty hit from a defensive linemen and got knocked out. When he woke up he still had the ball and his dad was hovering over him. He soon figured out he had a concussion and could not play in the next game. Casey would have to start the next game but to everyones surprise he was not performing well in fact he was doing quite badly. As a result of this Troy offered to help Casey. But will it be enough to win the championship game?

Characters - Jake Cullen, Wyatt Cullen, Troy Cullen, Casey Lindell.

This book has a great lesson and that is don't try to be anyone else and do not get stuck behind someone else's shadow. It also teaches the lesson that you don't need to rely on anyone and it can be better to be independent. I would recommend this book to anybody that enjoys football from ages 12 and up.

Peyton and Eli Manning meet Wyatt and Jake Cullen. Jake is a freshman quarterback in Texas where high stakes football is not just a game. Jake must live up to his older brother Wyatt's championship legacy and the pressure of his father, a former NFL quarterback.

Normally I love books by Lupica, but this one was just okay for me. I highly recommend it to young quarterbacks growing up in the shadow of an older brother who is also a quarterback. That's the target audience for this one. The game descriptions are just too specific to the quarterback position to appeal to other football players, and the conflict the main character, Jake has with his dad, is also very specific to being the younger son and ignored by your father. I just felt that something was lacking and I almost was too bored to get through the middle. I finished it, but only because it was by Lupica. I kept hoping for it to get a lot better. ( )

3.5

A Texas high school football story with heart that should appeal to fans of Friday Night Lights. The audiobook brings all the football action to life. Texas forever! ( )