Eddie and the Jets Book

I liked this book. It wasn't as good as some I have read, but still good. I figured I would like it because it has a little to do with football.

Characters
Eddie Paulsen - main character, football player for the Jets
Bobby -Eddie's best friend
Jackie - Bobby's sister, Eddie likes her
Mikey, Kenny, Marty and Sean - football players who also play for the Jets
Kirby - loud mouth leader of the Giants football team

Eddie is a sixth grader in the story. He and some friends make up a football team they call the Jets. Every weekend they play another team called the Giants. Every time they play, the Jets lose. Eddie is tired of losing. He tells two of the kids on the team they need to think more about football and less about other things. Those two players quit the team. Eddie finds a couple of other kids to play for the Jets. There are other things Eddie is dealing with. His dad decides to leave. He has moved out of their house. When this happens, Eddie is the one who has a hard time focusing on the football games. He starts to understand how other things can be more important. When he stops focusing on the game, the Jets finally win. Eddie ends up liking Jackie. She is the sister of his best friend, Bobby. Bobby doesn't really like that he likes her.

The setting of the story is a small town neighborhood which is never really named. You get the feeling of the small town when the football teams play every weekend in their neighborhood. It helps to make Eddie's problems seem like they are big in comparison.

Theme:
I think the theme of the book would be to keep on trying. No matter how many times you get knocked down, you should keep on trying. Eddie kept losing in his football games. He kept on trying and finally did win. I think a theme could also be to control things you can control and let others be. When Eddie felt his home life was falling apart, he was finally able to win a football game. It seemed like when he stopped obsessing about football, he played the game better. Everyone can relate to things happening in their life that are out of their control.

I would recommend this book to anyone who likes football. I think boys would probably like it more than girls would. I think I would recommend it to kids 12 and older. There are some issues younger readers would not really understand or relate to.