SLUGFEST

Unlikely teammates in a summer school PE class go for glory on the gridiron.

Korman rewards readers willing to suspend their disbelief with a middle school romp that takes the “Bad News Bears” premise for a wild ride. Thanks to a new state rule that eighth graders can’t graduate to high school without a PE credit, summer school sees a motley assortment of students assembled in the gym—from world-class klutz Kaden Cooperman, who skipped that class all year to avoid being bullied, to multisport superstar Arnie “Yash” Yashenko, left high and dry after being led to believe that he had been excused to play with the high school’s varsity teams. When the class falls under the management of a retired second grade and home ec (“Family and Consumer Studies”) teacher named Mrs. Finnerty, the stage seems set for a wasted summer—but the author has other plans. If none of the classmates (except for Yash) initially show much enthusiasm for sports, by the time the annual all-city flag football tournament rolls around, they’ve become a quarrelsome, disorganized, laughably inept…team. Even elderly Mrs. Finnerty demonstrates hidden depths, plus an apparently limitless supply of baked goods that will keep readers salivating alongside this lively, large-hearted, sharply seen cast of middle schoolers. Characters largely read white.

The pastries aren’t all that’s sweet in a tale rich in wins both public and personal.