The Rookie Bookie

by L. Jon Wertheim, Tobias J. Moskowitz

Using the tips, truths, and stats they explore in their New York Times bestseller Scorecasting , two dads pack super sports savvy and important math and financial concepts into a fun and heartwarming first novel for kids.

New kid Mitch Sloan wants to fit in, but his nerdy love of statistics and making money isn't winning him any friends in his sports-loving town--until he finds the perfect way to attain instant popularity. But running a football betting ring at school eventually turns sour, and Mitch loses the only real friend he's made. He'll have to win her back by using his brainpower for good and helping the school football team achieve victory-- if they'll listen to the advice of a former bookie!

Genres: Sports, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Mathematics, Humor, Middle Grade, Childrens

272 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2014

About the author

L. Jon Wertheim is the executive editor of Sports Illustrated. A sports journalist with a passion for psychology and economics, he is the author of such New York Times bestsellers as Scorecasting (written with Toby Moskowitz) and You Can’t Make This Up (written with Al Michaels).

Reviews

[Jeff · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is about a boy named Mitch and he just moved from California to Illinois. Kevin, Mitch's older brother is a decent football player.The Rookie Bookie is a great book because it talks about Mitch trying to fit in with the popular while being a nerd. This book is a really good book because it talks about when a boy goes to a new school. I recommend this book to people who likes to read about sports.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Rookie Bookie" by L.Jon Wertheim is an intermediate chapter book with an AR reading level of 4.6 and an interest level of 3rd - 6th grades. This book, depending on the reading abilities of the student would work as either a read aloud book or an independent reading book.

The student Interest Inventory asked if given three wishes what would he like them to be, my student responded with "rich, fast, and popular." Mitch Sloan, the main character in the book is new and all he wants is to make money and friends so Mitch uses his aptitude for math and statistics to make both by becoming a bookie.

What if you had a very unique skill... the ability to make money by analyzing sports, would you do it? Even if it means losing the only real friend you have made in a new school... Would you still do it?

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was another selection for our 5th grade book club and I absolutely loved everything about this book. Mitch and his family recently moved from California to Illinois. Mitch isn't an athlete like his older brother but he does have a mind for math. Can he find a way to leverage his skill set to make friends at school?

This was well written, engaging and sharp. I loved Mitch!

Grade: 5/5

[Shaun Lonergan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don´t ever do what he did in school kids # Great book

[Jairo Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was about this kid named Mitch and he just moved from California to Illinois. Because his parents think that they will be more successful in their shop if they've move. And then he likes sports so he signs up for math in sports to make plans in football games. And he bets on stuff to get lots of money. And then he makes friends with this girl in his school. But when something goes wrong he loses his only friend and he has to get her back. I liked this book because it wasn't boring it was funny. I recommend this book to all my football squad because its all about football and its ok and because its funny .

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was cute and fits well with Summer Reading's sports theme this year. Nothing exceptional, but I enjoyed the story, and I don't think I've ever read a story about juvenile gambling before (it's nice to throw a little math in there with our sports) . . . The characters were fairly well developed, and the friendship between the two protagonists was a nice departure from the friendships depicted in a lot of contemporary juvenile fiction. I thought the morality was a little heavy handed (I don't necessarily feel that Mitch's behavior was all that bad), but I understood the point.

[Kassie Rybeck · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is for your reluctant reader who LOVES sports, especially football. It is about friendship and learning tough lessons, which is a great tie-in.

[Kris Patrick · Rating 4 out of 5]

Little Brown! Get it together!
I could sell the poop out of this book to kids and teachers if it wasn't out of stock indefinitely through your distributors.

[Valerie McEnroe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Mitch Sloan loves numbers. He's a wiz with statistics. He likes talking about numbers so much that he can get annoying. It was a problem at his old school, but his family has just moved to Indiana, and so far things are good. Sure, he ranked last in the football tryouts, but he has made a friend who likes statistics just as much as him. If only he were as confident with the school bully as he is with numbers, things would be almost perfect.

Even though Mitch doesn't like playing sports, he loves watching them. Because, you know, statistics. Indiana folks love their teams. Mitch realizes right away that he can use this to his advantage. It starts off with him making a bet with another kid, and eventually grows into a gambling business. He gets rich, but all the kid gamblers just break even. As you can guess, a good scheme only lasts so long before you get busted.

I liked this book. It isn't on the same level as books by Mike Lupica or Tim Green which are serious about the game, but it still has some play by play action. It's kind of a younger, more light-hearted version of Tim Green's Football Genius in that the main character in both books are able to predict plays. This one has a more quirky, sarcastic edge to it.

[Susie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really appreciate the purpose behind this book-the joining of sports and math. I hesitate to criticize anything about it, since the authors grew up in Indiana as I did. The thing that bothered me most was the idea that the football coach (nice as he was) would be so inept and would need Mitch to explain things. I would love to ask the authors why they used a few real names (Gas City, Clarksville, Louisville) and the rest fictitious (as far as I knew) The book does not have to mirror Indiana exactly, but a football game these days would never be postponed for a few weeks to build up importance.

One of my favorite things about the book was the portrayal of Mitch's parents; their "punishment" for him was near-perfect. If only other parents would follow the same idea of having a suspension being a learning experience. They seemed like especially wise parents.

[Jacob · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Rookie Bookie is a great book it funny, sporty, and has a lot of talk about money making. It's about a middle school kid who LOVES football and LOVES money. But his love for that stuff isn't getting him any friends in his hometown. Until he finds his way to popularity. But running a football-betting ring for money at school eventually makes its way to turning sour. Mitch loses his one truly, real, friend that he had in middle school. He will have to win her back using his brain to help his school's football team. That's if they listen to a former Bookies advise.

[Margaret Boling · Rating 5 out of 5]

1/3/2017 ** We listened to this audiobook (thanks Overdrive) while my husband and I made a 6 hour drive. It was perfect: funny, well-written, and just enough business information. I think many readers will be able to find a connection - sports, math dweeb, tomboys, etc. I won't have any difficulty "selling" this for this year's Young Hoosier process.

[Kevin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because it is about football. In the book, the main character Mitch, starts a betting ring and he starts making a lot of money. In the end he gets caught and gets in a lot of trouble.

[Elle · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really loved this book it was interesting, and I couldn't put it down. I recommend it to some youngsters.

[Annie Payne · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a decent read. I think it's probably interesting enough to hold the attention of some boys, and maybe a handful of girls, but I don't think it's going to a hit with all kids.

[Viola Sung · Rating 4 out of 5]

Funny and smart. :)

[Galion Public Library Teens · Rating 3 out of 5]

Review by G.H. : "About making money and being rich."

[Goose · Rating 5 out of 5]

🤑🤑🤑🤑🤑

[naina ⚘ · Rating 2 out of 5]

forced to read this

[Marcia Van Camp]

Eldest read

[Jack Booth · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really like this book and how it is set up.

[Ben Pearson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book

[Brock · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Rookie Bookie by L. Jon Wertheim is a super good and thrilling book. The main character in the book is named Mitch. He is in middle school, like I am. He tries to fit in by trying out for the football team. Mitch is just trying to fit in and is having trouble with that. It is not easy helping the football team and saving his relationship with his new girlfriend. I wonder how he is going to make these things happen.

My favorite part is when Mitch admits to his new girlfriend while they are playing catch that he has had his head dunked in a toilet before at his old school. No way to keep a girl. I liked that part because it was funny. I wonder what other adventures he has been on, or what other things have happened to him in the past.

I would recommend this book to both boys and girls of all ages. I liked this book because it was filled with adventure, comedy, and romance. I hope that there is another book like this. If not, then I hope this author writes another book.

[Connor Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I thought this was one of the best books I have ever read because of how interesting it was. I would read it again if I didn't already know how it ended. This book was great for a few main reasons. I liked it because it was about kids our age and how they tried to make money by starting a football betting ring. They could been doing boring things like selling cookies or lemonade. Mitch and Jamie made money using their favorite sport, math, statistics, and predictions. The cool part about the way they made money was that they also incorporated subjects that they learned in school to make their business a success. I also liked how they kept their business a secret for so long and how it was not figured out until a bully told the vice principal. One good thing came out of Mitch and Jamie being caught when they were asked to call the plays for the final football game and the coach of the football team kept his job.

[Jayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

The bookie, The Rookie Bookie, was a pretty good book to read i you like football. I like this book, because it reminds me of the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid, because the book talks about himself and about his family and about his friends, like in the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I recommend this book to kids or even adults if they enjoy football or the book Diary of a Wimpy Kid. I would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars on how good this book was.

I actually like the plot to this story, because it talks about a kid who is trying to fit-in with his new school and trying to play football at his school, but there are some problems he has in his school. The book was really good, but some parts I don’t really get like, how the main character was complaining about the name of his food, and why everybody was picking on him.

[Amanda Harris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Mitchell Sloan is not what you call popular, in fact, he considers himself unpopular...geeky even. Back in California, he was bullied, he even got a swirly once. Now that Mitch has moved to Indiana, he has a chance to start new.

Mitch loves sports, however, he's not good at playing them...he's too scrawny, but he's good at figuring the odds. Statistics. What plays work, which ones don't and he's good at predicting who will win the game. This hatches a brilliant plan! Why not start a gambling ring at school? Sounds illegal...a little dangerous and a great way to make some new friends. Two things are for sure, Mitch gets rich and gains a whole lot of new friends! But what happens if he gets caught? Will he lose everything or become Mr. Popularity? You'll have to read and find out!

[Amos · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book by Tobias Moskowitz was the first book of his I have ever read. In the Rookie bookie Mitch is a new kid and trys out for the football team and doesn't make it. he feels the only way to fit in is gambling.
Mitch trys to fit in by starting a gambling scheme with his new friend Jamie. they get in trouble because the bully found their notebook. They get suspended and Mitch has to clean out the locker room were the coach get hints from him to win the last game of the year for the team and the coach gets to keep his job.
I would recommend this to anyone who likes football getting people in trouble or just feels like they need a good fast read. I the end I think this is a very good book.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

A smart middle grade novel about a would-be Warren Buffet, Mitch Sloan, and his profitable attempts to cash in on his football savvy. With authentic middle school humor, this story includes marketing tips, principles of supply and demand, and football strategy. I especially appreciated Mitch's intelligent friendship with Jamie, his respectful and caring relationship with his family, and the wonderful shoutout to the principles of microfinancing. This is a fun story with big ideas and a kind heart.

[Trevor Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was amazing!Seventh grader Mitch Sloan loves sports,though his football knowledge exceeds his athletic capability. Mitch's family has just moved to Indiana. Mitch and his friend Jaime get into a football gambling business that they have created. The gambling was a gambit and came falling down when the school bully John takes the book of the records and money, and hands it into the office. The author sure had a way to draw a reader in through clues and details. I would recommend this book to anybody that like statistics and sports.

[Amy Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this one because it was on the SC Book Awards list for children's middle grade books this year. I probably wouldn't have picked it up otherwise because I'm not a sports fan, but I'm glad I read it! It reminded me a lot of one of my cousins. I could see him masterminding a plan to weasel money out of a bunch of his classmates. I like that the kid's intentions were mixed--he wanted to make money, but he also wanted to help his family. He goes through some tough moral decisions and delivers a math/life lesson or two. I'd definitely recommend this one to 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders!