Football Genius

Green, Tim. Football Genius. 2008. 256p. 309 mins. ISBN 978-0-06-112272-9. Available as an audiobook from Overdrive.

Troy White lives football. He loves the game, and enjoy playing it with his friends, burly Nathan and fast on her feet Tate. And though he doesn’t like the coach of his team nor his son Jamie, who is the star quarterback, he loves playing for his team, the Duluth Tigers. Being from Georgia, Troy always cheers for the Atlanta Falcons, but they’re having a tough season. Troy, however, is sure he could help them. He has the uncanny ability to see all of the play patterns on the field and call the current play before it happens. Troy wishes he could share this ability with his father, but he doesn’t know anything about him.

When his mother gets a job as a publicist with the Falcons, Troy cant believe his luck. Dared by Jamie to bring back an official ball from the game, Troy crosses town and goes to the gated community where Seth Halloway lives, with Tate and Nathan. He gets in, retrieves a football, but gets lost on the way back and is confronted by a security guard. He manages to escape, but barely.

He gets to attend their first game, against the Dallas Cowboys. Seeing a play develop, he tries to tell Seth Halloway, the best defensive player for the Falcons, but his advice is ignored and the Falcons lose the game. In the process, he gets taken away by the stadium guards after the Coach Krock, the defensive coach complains, and he almost gets his mother fired. Now Troy has to figure a way to share his gift with the Falcons so they can turn a losing season into a winning one. When Troy realizes that Coach Krock is ensuring that the team loses on purpose so he can get the head coach position, he has to act fast. But with his mother’s job in the balance, can Troy risk making contact with Seth one more time?

Filled with accurate and realistic sports descriptions, this story sees Troy confront bullies and persevere to reach his goals. Fans of Dairy Queen or Run for Your Life will enjoy Troy’s struggles to become his own person.