Stevie cannot believe it at first: the basketball article he submitted has won a student journalism contest and even though he’s only in 8th grade, he...moreStevie cannot believe it at first: the basketball article he submitted has won a student journalism contest and even though he’s only in 8th grade, he’ll be covering the Final Four in New Orleans! Sure, his co-winner, 8th-grader Susan Carol is a foot taller than him and a Duke fan (a team Stevie’s definitely not a fan of), but Stevie’s getting to meet all his sports writing and basketball heroes. He’s having the time of his life, until he and Susan Carol overhear someone blackmailing Chip Graber, the best basketball player in the tournament, to throw the final game. The student journalists try to warn the adults, but of course no one believes them – so it’s up to Stevie and Susan Carol to find out what the blackmailer has on Chip and how to keep the Final Four tournament clean. Investigative journalism wasn’t what they originally came for, but these students aren’t leaving until they blow this story wide open – the only question is, will they survive the explosion?
Feinstein has packed his story with the famous names surrounding basketball which will thrill sports fans although I was able to enjoy the story without recognizing more than one or two names tops. It would have been nice to have a note at the end of the book about which characters were real and which were fiction. The close-up look at the Final Four was fascinating particularly coming from an insider such as Feinstein who is a sports journalist himself. This would be a good fit, not necessarily for low level readers, but perhaps for reluctant readers with a decided sports bent. I’m looking forward to reading the next book in the series which focuses on tennis as I suspect I’ll recognize more of the characters (tennis is the one sport my family follows).(less)
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