The Turnover by Mike Lupica is a thrilling, Sports Fiction book. This book teaches many life lessons such as being a leader, giving second chances, and being a faithful, loyal friend. Throughout the book, secrets become revealed and mindsets are changed about one another. 

Lucas Winston adores basketball and has a goal to make it far in the game … just like his dad. Unfortunately, Lucas’s dad died when Lucas was a baby from disease, but was a star on his high school basketball team and could’ve gone farther if he didn’t injure his leg. 

Right now, it’s only Lucas and his mom; but there’s also his gramps. Lucas’s grandpa acts as a fatherly figure around the house, even though he doesn’t live with Lucas and his mom. Sam Winston(Lucas’s grandpa) also coaches the basketball team Lucas is currently playing on. Sam and Lucas Winston watch basketball(especially Lebron James) every night. Both have a bond that seems almost impossible to break.

Lucas and the Claremont Wolves are currently undefeated, and nothing’s stopping them. Lucas is just like Picasso at point guard and Lucas’s best friend, Ryan, is a center who can shoot the ball and run the pick and roll with Lucas perfectly. “When in doubt, run the pick and roll,” was Lucas and Ryan’s mindset. It just seemed like everything was perfect for Lucas right now, what could possibly go wrong?

One day Lucas’s favorite teacher assigned the class an assignment that stated they were to write an essay on someone who couldn’t be on their mom or dad that was worth 25% of their grade. Lucas knew right away who he was going to write about, Gramps. Little does Lucas know that when writing about gramps, their relationship could be messed up because of the past.

Lucas found out about his Grandpa's “scandal” in college and it changed Lucas’s standpoint on his grandpa. Although gramps did something immoral, what Lucas didn’t like about it was that he kept it a secret for 60 years instead of informing his family. Suddenly, after gramps told Lucas what happened to him in college, it was almost like a brick wall was separating the relationship they once had. It was even to the point where Ryan's mom had to be the coach from now on because gramps had just  “vanished”.

Will this affect the basketball team and how Lucas plays in the championship game? Read Mike Lupica's The Turnover to find out.

Why Recommend

Although the cover of this book is someone playing basketball, I would  recommend this book to all readers; whether you enjoy sports or not. One part I love about this book is how they turn a normal story into a mystery. One second ago, Lucas was playing in a basketball game and the next he was discovering his gramps secretive past life. Another aspect I like about this book is all the life lessons they teach. For instance, they teach about giving others second chances when Lucas must give his gramps a second chance. They also teach about being a good teammate who can be dependable to everyone on the team and lead the team. I remember that when I was reading this book I was thinking in my head “What’s going to happen next?” because there are certain scenes in the book that have so much going on it’s hard to think what will happen next. The Turnover by Mike Lupica is a must-read!

Check out the Turnover at NBPL!