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Crunch Time Cam
Basketball is in Cameron Flint’s blood. His brothers are taking the state by storm with their play on the school’s varsity team. Cam hopes he can do the same one day, but he has a few years to go. Now that he’s finally old enough to join the local league, Cam is eager to live up to the family legacy there. He has the talent, but there’s only one problem—Cam’s teammates have barely played basketball before. Can Cameron’s explosive play elevate his team to the level of league champions or will he fail to live up to the family name? Inside, you'll find lessons
109 pages, Paperback
Published November 6, 2017
About the author
Jordan Lyons
3 books2 followersJordan Lyons is an author and podcaster. He was born and raised just outside of Flint, Michigan, but recently swapped the cold tundra of MI winters for the year-round sunshine of Florida with his wife and their adorable lop-eared bunnies, Lilly and Leo.
Jordan enjoys all things basketball including catching the latest NBA game to hoisting up three-pointers to coaching in his local church league. You can also find him riding a coaster at Disney World, cheering on Michigan State University (Go Green!), or taking in another Sci-Fi or fantasy book.
You can stay in touch with him at jordanlyons.com.
Jordan enjoys all things basketball including catching the latest NBA game to hoisting up three-pointers to coaching in his local church league. You can also find him riding a coaster at Disney World, cheering on Michigan State University (Go Green!), or taking in another Sci-Fi or fantasy book.
You can stay in touch with him at jordanlyons.com.
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
August 11, 2018
Crunch Time Cam by Jordan Lyons had it all; basketball, sibling competitiveness, a snow day, snowballs with rocks in the middle, sports injuries, struggles with grades, rivalries, drama with friends, and most importantly, great lessons learned!
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
While I am a bit out of the target demographic, I still enjoyed this one quite a bit!
It was a fun and very quick read for me. I breezed through it in about a half an hour. A lot of the story sent me right back to my middle school basketball years...
My favorite passages:
The fallen leaves were remnants of a Midwestern Fall that was edging closer to Winter. They were also a sign of a chore for Cam to rake and bag up later.
The afternoon fun turned from a yellow-white to red as the days wore on. The icy blue sky now wore shades of pink signaling less than an hour of daylight left.
"Do you two want to join our snowball fight? We want to get a match in before it gets dark." Cam and Braxton didn't need any convincing. They were ready and willing to join in to the fight.
Cam's teacher smirked. Her intuition was right again. "I know basketball is important to you. Every story problem you make up has to do with how many shots Steph Curry makes..."
Cam realized that in 21, you have no teammates. Out here, you are nothing without your teammates.
My final thoughts:
I would highly recommend this one to any 4th or 5th grader, or, of course, any fans of books targeting this age range.
Full disclosure: I was given a free copy of this book by the author in exchange for an honest review. This did not affect my rating in any way.
While I am a bit out of the target demographic, I still enjoyed this one quite a bit!
It was a fun and very quick read for me. I breezed through it in about a half an hour. A lot of the story sent me right back to my middle school basketball years...
My favorite passages:
The fallen leaves were remnants of a Midwestern Fall that was edging closer to Winter. They were also a sign of a chore for Cam to rake and bag up later.
The afternoon fun turned from a yellow-white to red as the days wore on. The icy blue sky now wore shades of pink signaling less than an hour of daylight left.
"Do you two want to join our snowball fight? We want to get a match in before it gets dark." Cam and Braxton didn't need any convincing. They were ready and willing to join in to the fight.
Cam's teacher smirked. Her intuition was right again. "I know basketball is important to you. Every story problem you make up has to do with how many shots Steph Curry makes..."
Cam realized that in 21, you have no teammates. Out here, you are nothing without your teammates.
My final thoughts:
I would highly recommend this one to any 4th or 5th grader, or, of course, any fans of books targeting this age range.
January 17, 2018
'Crunch Time Cam' by Jordan Lyons shares the story of Cameron, a young boy who wants to live up to the expectations he feels exist for him regarding his interest in playing basketball. He strives to go out of his way to fill the shoes that his brothers have worn before him in their basketball league.
Even though it was clear where Cam got his sense of determination and perseverance from as he aimed to be the best and win the season, his character, as well as others, could have been further fleshed out. The story seemed very much on the surface at times, and it would have been nice to delve more into the inner workings of some of the secondary characters, like Cam's best friend Braxton, in order to more fully develop the relationships among the characters. One way to do this would be through more showing rather than telling. The story did a nice job explaining what was happening, but more action sequences coupled with added dialogue rather than quite as much description would help present readers with a more thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. It is nice to feel like you are in the book, and it seems that readers might often feel like they are on the outside of Cam's life looking in rather than being right there with him.
All in all, Lyons showed through 'Crunch Time Cam' that valuable lessons can be learned, even when you least expect them. From learning how to be independent on the court to figuring out how to best work on a team, the importance of friendship, empathy, and maintaining focus are only three of the themes that this book captures in its short but sweet 111 pages.
Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Freshman Fourteen' and 'Sweet Fifteen,' Young Adult Novels
*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*
Even though it was clear where Cam got his sense of determination and perseverance from as he aimed to be the best and win the season, his character, as well as others, could have been further fleshed out. The story seemed very much on the surface at times, and it would have been nice to delve more into the inner workings of some of the secondary characters, like Cam's best friend Braxton, in order to more fully develop the relationships among the characters. One way to do this would be through more showing rather than telling. The story did a nice job explaining what was happening, but more action sequences coupled with added dialogue rather than quite as much description would help present readers with a more thoroughly enjoyable reading experience. It is nice to feel like you are in the book, and it seems that readers might often feel like they are on the outside of Cam's life looking in rather than being right there with him.
All in all, Lyons showed through 'Crunch Time Cam' that valuable lessons can be learned, even when you least expect them. From learning how to be independent on the court to figuring out how to best work on a team, the importance of friendship, empathy, and maintaining focus are only three of the themes that this book captures in its short but sweet 111 pages.
Beth Rodgers, Author of 'Freshman Fourteen' and 'Sweet Fifteen,' Young Adult Novels
*Review originally posted at YABooksCentral.com*
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews