SECOND-STRING CENTER

Cornell “Dunk” Duncan and his team from Dunk Under Pressure (2006) return for another in the Winning Season series. They are seventh-graders now. Dunk hopes for a place on the team, and gets his wish as back-up center. He might be only second string, but he gets to play. Jared, first-string center, is enduring the first stages of his parents’ divorce, and it interferes with his play and makes him late to games and practice. Jared confides in Dunk, and Dunk is “there” for him. After much practice and a false start, all ends well with a win and Jared’s dad promising to get an apartment in town. Some of the dialogue sounds like 1950s high-schoolers rather than modern New Jersey middle-schoolers, and the scant plot is never allowed to get in the way of the sports action. However, for reluctant readers and sports fans, this, like the rest of the series, is a strong choice. (Fiction. 8-12)