Lessons of the Game

Popular young-adult author Diane Gonzales Bertrand (Sweet Fifteen) has scored a touchdown with this story of student teacher Kaylene Morales and her surprise reunion with old friend Alex Garrison, now a coach and fellow instructor at Leon Creek High School. As Kaylene and Alex become reacquainted, they learn the difficulties—and the necessity—of balancing their working lives with the search for personal happiness outside the school zone. Teenaged readers will rapidly become immersed in enjoyable scenes of football games, pizza dinners, school parties, family arguments, and locker-room banter. At the same time, they may find themselves pondering such dilemmas as the conflicts between athletic and academic demands and between professional duties and personal aspirations.