Home Run

Baseball Great #4

by Tim Green

Perfect for fans of Mike Lupica's sports books and Dan Gutman's Baseball Card Adventures, New York Times bestselling author and former NFL player Tim Green gives readers a thrilling new addition to his bestselling Baseball Great series. Josh's life has just fallen apart. His father will no longer be coaching the travel baseball team and is moving to Florida, forcing his mom and little sister to move into a small apartment on the wrong side of town. To make matters worse, the new coach of the travel team is an unforgiving drill sergeant. But then Benji tells Josh of a home-run derby in which the winner gets a brand-new house. All Josh has to do to qualify is hit twenty home runs during his travel-team season. With Benji and Jaden's help, Josh is hoping to hit it out of the park and save his family, because if he strikes out, he may just lose everything.

Genres: Sports, Baseball, Middle Grade, Realistic Fiction, Friendship

352 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2016

About the author

Tim Green, for many years a star defensive end with the Atlanta Falcons, is a man of many talents. He's the author of such gripping books for adults as the New York Times bestselling The Dark Side of the Game and a dozen suspense novels, including Exact Revenge and Kingdom Come. Tim graduated covaledictorian from Syracuse University and was a first-round NFL draft pick. He later earned his law degree with honors. Tim has worked as an NFL analyst for FOX Sports and as an NFL commentator for National Public Radio, among other broadcast experience. He lives with his wife, Illyssa, and their five children in upstate New York. Football Genius is his first novel for young readers. For more updates, visit www.facebook.com/authortimgreen

Reviews

[Tyler Johnston · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend the book Home Run to kids 6-8th grade that love sports and read about baseball. The book took place mostly in Josh’s home town Syracuse. This book was about a boy that completely loved the game of baseball and was really good at it too. When he started playing travel baseball he had to get used to the coaching staff and traveling to different towns, sometimes far away even other states just to play one game. This book was outstanding to me because the author used great description about Josh a 13 year old boy. Also I can relate to Josh with my experience in baseball. If you are like Josh this should be the next book on your list to read. I hope you take my advice and read this book and enjoy this as much as I did.

[Lily · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a good book. It took me a while to get interested, but it was a good book since I play softball. I probably wouldn't read the book again because it was really long. It was good though!

[Frank DelPonte · Rating 4 out of 5]

In a sequel to Rivals, Tim Green creates Home Run captivating the audience in a novel that continues showing Josh’s advanced skill in baseball, but in addition shows Josh’s personal life much more than ever seen before. This book mainly takes place in Josh’s home in Syracuse, but also includes Florida, Bricktown, and baseball fields everywhere.
Josh’s father decides to take a coaching job in Florida and leave the Titans, his wife, his young daughter, and Josh back in Syracuse. Josh, who is extremely upset, plans to run away in an attempt to bring his parents back together to find him. This idea backfires and Josh winds up going to Florida with his father. After a short period of time in Florida, he gets a call from his mom panicked because without Josh’s father helping her pay the bills, she will lose the house. After this call, Josh goes back home to Syracuse and hopes to win a Home Run Derby in which the grand prize is a new home. Josh’s friend Jaden is trying to win a journalism scholarship but her story includes news about the new coach that the coach doesn’t want to be released into the public. The coach then said, as long as she writes that story, Josh will continue to sit on the bench. If Josh can’t play in the games, then he will not be able to qualify for the derby because you must hit 20 homeruns to make it in. Will Josh be able to satisfy his needs and Jaden’s needs at the same time?
Tim Green uses vocabulary that is easier to understand so that people that are a bit younger can read his books, as well as some people in their adulthood. His language is very colloquial, meaning used in ordinary or familiar conversation; not formal or literary. Compared to Tim Green’s other novels, this one could be considered slow-paced. This novel includes a lot more of Josh’s personal life instead of his baseball career which makes the pace of the book a bit slower than usual.
Even though the early stages of the book are a bit more depressing, later in the novel we see optimism out of Josh. He believes that his baseball expertise can help his mother get a brand new home and make their lives all the more easier. My favorite part of the book was when Josh was confronted by his coach and was told to stop Jaden from writing that story or he will sit on the bench. This had to be my favorite part because it was late in the season and he was so close to 20 home runs, and this suddenly happened. This added a lot of drama because someone had to change their aspirations for the other to accomplish their goal. I did not have a least favorite portion of the novel even though some situations were more entertaining than others. If I could change one thing about the book, it would be the new coach. He doesn’t really know too much about baseball and his army background shows when he forces the players to work out during their practices instead of working on their baseball skills.
If I had to pick a theme I would say it would be to never give up. This would be the theme because even when Josh is put in horrific situations, he always remains optimistic and believed that he could do something to put his family in a better situation. Tim Green successfully conveys this theme because he always puts Josh in sticky situations but he never hangs his head and gives up, he always attempts to make the situation better.
I would unquestionably recommend this book or just the Baseball Great series to anyone. Tim Green is one of my favorite authors and I’m never dissatisfied after reading any of his books. His books are geared towards sports fans that are not only looking for sports, but also some drama in between games. No matter how young are old one is, Tim Green’s books are enjoyable and a pleasure to read.

[Jordan G]

Quarter 3 Book Review
The book I read was called “Home Run” by Tim Green and the lexile level is 690L. The main characters are Jaden, Benji, and Josh. Josh’s parents got divorced and his dad got a college coaching position in Florida for baseball. He forced Josh to go with him to Florida and to live with him but after his mom called him and said they are going to lose the house he came back to Syracuse. It all came down to the last at bat in the last game he hit his home and got to go to the derby.
The book “Home Run” has a good meaning to it. The theme of it is that when things get hard always keep going. An example of that in the book is when Josh doesn’t want to go to Florida and just wants to stay with his friends and play baseball in Syracuse. The theme helps to make Benji and Jaden not stop. Example is Benji forgot his slip that his parents needed to sign and he didn't get is signed so coach made him run all practice and if he wanted to quit running coach wouldn’t let him. Jaden had to write a new story since coach got mad at her for trying to write a story about him and how he was a hero but that ended tragic.
I thought the book was fairly easy to understand. The book was easy to read but it was a good story though. I wish the ending would of had more of explaining about what happened in the future after they won the house. My favorite part was when Josh hit his last home run because it was off the best pitcher in the tournament and he won the game with it. The way I can make connections is from playing baseball and getting a walkoff hit. I think this was a good book but a little easy for me but I definitely recommend it.

[Ryan E · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book and highly recommend it to any sports fans. I loved how connectable the characters were and how I actually felt empathy for them. Josh was stuck in quicksand with his father moving to Florida for a job, to his mom losing hers, all the while he is competing to win a new house. This is an amazing book and it is funny and touching.

[Ian Hewitt · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought the book was pretty good. It was easy to understand and not to much to keep track of. It is about Josh and his baseball team trying to win with the teams new coach. I recommend this book to anyone who likes baseball.

[Zach · Rating 5 out of 5]

It was a great book

[Austin A · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home Run by Tim Green was phenomenal book, and I'm glad I read it. I have read many of Tim Green's books before and they're all incredible. Although the lexile level is only a 690L, is was still pretty good. 690L is a little low for my reading level but I still find all his books so entertaining. Home Run features Josh, a very good baseball player for his town, who's dad gets a new job far away and has to leave their family. Doing this forces them to move because they can't afford their home anymore. They move to an old run down apartment, and Josh has to hit twenty homers to qualify for the Home Run Derby. This derby would give him a chance to win a new house for his family, but he gets into a few pickles on the way.
I think the theme of the book was to never give up on yourself, no matter what happens. Josh got into a lot of bad situations but he ended up getting through all of them and making his life incredible. He almost wouldn't have won that house if he gave up. He tried and tried to get Jaden's phone, and he needed one more home run, and Jaden arrived at the last minute and Josh banged his twentieth homer. "When Josh got off the phone he handed it to Coach Swanson and started to beg. "Coach, please. She's on her way, but they were taking a shortcut on Route 219 and some bridge was closed so they had to go back, and I don't know if they'll make it before the game begins"(p.299). Josh needed the phone to prove to Coach Swanson he wasn't trying to get coach in trouble, and he couldn't play until coach had the phone. Although Josh gets discouraged throughout the story he still makes up for it and does great things. Never giving up on yourself is something everyone needs to do.
Overall the book was great I loved how intense it got at some points in the story. It was easy for me only because I think of myself as a higher level reader and the lexile level was only 690L. It was almost one hundred percent unpredictable because you never knew what was going to happen next. It was pretty believable as well because this kind of stuff actually happens to some people who are really good at baseball. My favorite part of the book was when Josh didn't get to play in some of his games because he needed twenty home runs but wasn't able to get them because of a pickle he got himself into. I liked it because it was so intense if he was going to make it or not. I would recommend this book to less advanced or younger readers, because it has almost no words that I didn't know and it wasn't too long so it was pretty easy to read. If you love sports, especially baseball, you would love this book. This book was super good and I would suggest you at least give it a try.

[Tyson I · Rating 3 out of 5]

The title of the book I have just finished reading is ¨Home Run¨ by Tim Green the lexile level of
this book is 930. This book is about a kid named Josh who is a really really good baseball player. He will probably go to the majors when he grows up. His dad is his coach, but he gets a new job in florida his parents are divorced and his family doesn't have very much money. So when he needs to hit 20 home runs to get into a competition to win his family a house. He has to come through to save him and his family.
This book has a lot of themes throughout the book, but I think that the most important one is to never give up. I know that a lot of books have this theme but it really is a good theme for this book. Josh has to come through for the sake of this family he was scared he wanted to quit. He was in a hitting slump and if he didn´t get out of it he wouldn't be able to hit twenty home runs. Then he wouldn't be able to qualify for the home run derby to win his family a house which they really needed. Josh wants to give up when he is in his hitting slump but he bounces back and gets back into his groove. We all have bad days but if we dwell on them we won't bounce back and get out of our slumps. ¨The defender stretched his glove and caught it.¨ Josh is dropping his back shoulder in his swing so he is popping everything up.
I really did like this book it shows a lot of perseverance and how to overcome failure. It was a pretty easy book it was slow so that you could understand it. It wasn't a very believable story the chances of making it in a bathtub are very slim and even though Josh didn't the fact that he came so close is absurd. My favorite part is when everyone is waiting for josh with his brand new house. This book reminds me of a lot of other books that Tim Green has wrote. Overall it is a great book and I totally recommend it if you like sports

[Austin B]

I just finished the book Home Run by Time Green. It was one of the most favorite books I have ever read. This is one of the first books I have ever read from Tim Green. He has a interesting story and he also puts in a life problem that could mimic a real life situation.
When Josh the main character has to focus on getting through his parents going through a divorce. When they do get divorced his dad moves to Florida. Josh at first has to go with his dad there but then Josh doesn't like it there so he moves back to New York. He is very good at baseball. He is on a special private team. When his best friend Benji tells him about a home run derby he has to get twenty home runs in order to qualify to play the home run derby. His mom has to move to an apartment because she lost her job and is running out of money. So Josh wants to get twenty home runs to qualify because if he qualifies he has to hit one over the fence into a bathtub and get it in there to win a brand new free house. He wants to do it for his mom.
I would definitely recommend this book to baseball players and people dealing with there parents going through a divorce. I would recommend this book because it shows that if you are dealing with a life problem you can get around it just like Josh did. The booking can be confusing sometimes but sometimes it won't. The book is a bit longer but if you have time you can read it. It is believe able because it can be possible to get twenty home runs because if you have three months to get that and being a good baseball player then it can happen. The ending was good but it stops, keeping you thinking. My favorite part was when he hit his twentyth home run. I made a connection by playing baseball myself. Tim Green has long but very interesting and good books.

[BRAYDEN BARKES · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Run
By: Tim Green

The book Home Run by Tim Green is an outstanding book. I am reading this book currently and I am almost finished with it. I would strongly suggest this book to anyone in 6th grade or higher and loves sports, especially baseball. This book is about Josh, a 13 year old baseball player whose parents split. They were having a tough time finding money to afford their home and the stress was too much. Josh’s dad decides to move down to Florida for an amazing job opportunity as a head coach for a Varsity baseball team sponsored by Nike.

I rate this book a 4 out of 5 stars. This book is one that makes me want to read and when time is up, I don’t want to stop. This book is especially interesting to me because I love baseball. I really enjoy reading this book because it is something I can relate to. Josh is really hard on himself in sports just like me. He doesn’t like to mess up especially when the game is on the line. He wants to win for the team, for his friends. Tim Greens’ targeted audience is teenagers who love baseball or softball. There is tons of thrillers and parts where you don’t know what will happen.

This book is a mirror to me because my parents split when I was young. Back then, it was like whatever but now it can sometimes be frustrating. Leaving my clothes or school stuff at the other house then having to go get it. Another way this book is a mirror to me is how Josh works very hard at his sport because he wants to be the best he can be. He wants to become a MLB player when he gets older, and he works so hard that it may just happen.

[Christian Koklys · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Homerun, by Tim Green. It was the best book i have read in a long time. The main character Josh just finds out about a contest to win a free house for his struggling family, But he needs to hit 20 homeruns to qualify. Josh's dad soon gets a job offering with the manager of Crosby College, which forces Josh to move.
I really liked this book because it had a really good story to it. Their was action, drama and baseball involved. This book motivates me to play more baseball. This book had great character development in it and also was very entertaining for me to read. I never wanted to put it down.
I would recommend this book to baseball fans that want a good book to read. To read this book, you need mild knowledge about the game and how its played, but otherwise it was an extremely good book.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book Home Run by Tim Green is the fourth book in the Baseball Great series. The book follows Josh, a great baseball player, who has always played on a travel team, the Titans, coached by his father. Now his father got a job coaching for a team down in Florida and has to move away and his mother and sister are staying in Syracuse but are moving into a new apartment on the wrong side of town. Josh must now enter a home run derby and win his mother a house on the good side of town where he can live happily. This book was very good and was very engaging because I love baseball. The author was trying to convey a theme that nothing is more important than family and you have to do everything you can to keep your family together. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of sports books and especially baseball.

[Isaiah D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Isaiah Davis
Language Arts
Mrs.Nance
10/5/18
Home Run By:Tim Green
I like this book because It brings me back to memories in the summer. It's about baseball, and going to Cooperstown New York and i went there in the summer. In the book there in a baseball game and Dan's dad is not paying attention to the game. Dan said dad pay attention to the game and he started paying attention. The reason was so concerned is because he was not giving signs to any of the players. All the players were getting out and this was a very big Baseball Tournament. My favorite character is this book is Dan because he really shows how he like baseball because he told his dad to play attention to the game. I enjoyed this book because it brings back memories and I like Baseball. A good Quote that Dan said was “Even know we lost we are still a winner”.

[Brayden Strait · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home Run Tim Green


Home Run by Tim Green, is about a boy whose parents are divorced. His dad isn't paying rent for his mom so his house gets put up for sale. He ends up on the wrong side of town in a run down apartment, but he hears about a competition where if you hit 20 home runs in a season you get flown out to Houston to try and win a house. The only bad part is that you have to make it into a bathtub to win it. On the last pitch he hit it as hard as he could and it flew straight towards the bathtub. The hit looked good. I would recommend this book for people 5th grade and up. It is a fairly easy and quick read, but it is very entertaining and you will have trouble putting the book down.

[Freddie Lopez · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book I finished reading is called home run by Tim green.The book is about the main charecter josh and his family.He goes thrue struggles like his parents getting divorced.This happened because Josh hit a tournament winning home run and his father got a job at a college in Florida.Josh's dad levels to Florida with Josh but they just divorced.Joshs dad has to pay child support.Joshs old house was almost sold.Josh goes back home to his house and his home never gets sold.He also goes back to his old baseball team the Titans.

[Cooley · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think the book was good mainly geared towards baseball fans. Throughout the book Josh comes to find lots of problems some his fault some his friends and some just life but he has one mindset he needs to win that house what house. Well the one from the book anyways he has many setbacks and gets so close but fall short but a miracle happens and he might have one last shot. One thing I like is that it reminds you about your life what you stress about and what holds you back you can't control.
This books makes you made with home some people act and I dislike that.

[MVerscheure · Rating 4 out of 5]

Home Run By Tim Green,In The beginning of the story there is a kid named Josh,(who is the main character) And his life is "Falling Apart", Because his Father will no longer be coaching his travel baseball team and he is told that he and some of his family will need to move from Syracuse to Florida with his dad and leave his friends (Jaden and Benji) and his Mom and his baby sister to a place far away with his dad. The characters in the book are Jaden,Benji,Josh,Josh's Mom,Dad,baby Sister

[Eve Lyons · Rating 2 out of 5]

My son brought this book home from the library because it’s about baseball. He liked it. What I didn’t like is that every single one of the adults is a POS. What I liked even less is that the coach is a bully to the protagonist and gets away with it. I guess that’s introducing kids to the real world, but kid literature is usually different. Not pleasant to read. Nor are very unlikable characters.

[Matthew · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved the book Home Run by Tim Green and I had a really fun time reading this. I rated this five stars because the book did more than just beat the goal on how good it was going to be. the character is a troubled kid whose parents are divorced and wants to win them a house, but has to overcome a lot of challenges

[Landon · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good read for 5th graders and up. The book is about a thirteen year old boy that plays baseball and who's life is in a mess because his dad just divorced his mom. The dad is moving away to Florida and forcing Josh to go with him. Josh figures out that his mom and little sister are going broke so he returns home to help out his mom and little sister.

[Shayla · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a good because i love baseball it's my 2nd favorite sport. My 1st is football because i grew up watching it. My favorite football team is NDSU same with baseball but i don't watch them play baseball i watch the Minnesota twins same with my sister. But she likes UND and we argue who's better.

[Joshua Glass · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is really good because when their is a problem they explain what the problem is and how they will solve it. This book also really shows empathy because everyone knew Josh needed to win the house by hitting the ball in the bathtub because his family owned a apartment in the bad neighborhood and could barley afford to eat.

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great to see how much my 11-year-old enjoyed this book as we read it together over the summer. It might be the first young adult book I've ever seen him finish on his own by reading 100 pages at a time.

[Tyler D · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of the book was very good. It had a lot of excitement and made me want to keep reading. The characters personalities make the story so fun to read. Although Josh didn't meet his goal he still got what he wanted and I liked that as well. Tim Green did a very good job with this book.

[WMTL Kids · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was really good. It's about a boy named Josh who enters a home run contest because his mom is is on the verge of losing their house. This book is great for kids who love sports. I highly recommend it.

EP and LP

[Becky S. · Rating 4 out of 5]

I didn’t read the other books in the series before this one. It was alright but I think I might have got more if I read the backstories of a few before it. This kid was sure determined to meet his goal and had some great friends to help him.

[Ben Cheek · Rating 5 out of 5]

My favorite character was Benji because he is really funny when he says I am a heavy hitter .

A part that surprised me was when he moved to Florida then back to Syracuse.



What I would change about the ending him hitting it in to the bathtub.

[Gavin Jones]

I thought this was a good book it's about a boy named Josh and he moves away to Florida with his Dad but his mom loses her house because she can't make payments on it. Josh moves back with his mom so she can keep the house. It was a really good book and had a lot of different emotions in the book.

[Anne Sellis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Home Run by Tim Green

I liked the up and down craziness that this great author made, this is my new favorite book. I love this whole series, I read all 4 books in the last 4 days! All of Tim Greens books are so good and up and down and bubbling with intense up and down endings.