Sticks Paperback – June 2, 2005

Joan Bauer is racing to the top of my list of favorite writers...especially of the books that I call "sad-happy" ones when I talk to my library patrons. "Sticks" leans less on the sad and more on the happy, but with a lot of determination and hard work along the way. In this title, 13 year old Mickey Vernon is focused on one thing and one thing only--winning the big pool tournament hosted by his family's pool hall. But there are potholes on that path to victory--a more experienced and mean rival, his mother's rules, the reappearance of a pool expert and family friend who fell into disfavor right about the time Mickey's father died.....Readers will cheer and wonder about the ending all the way up to that last terrific chapter and then will probably want to find another Joan Bauer book. This particular one does not contain any mature themes and is appropriate for any age that can read a 185 page book on a 5th grade reading level...especially if they like pool!

Got book at a great price....really the price of shipping. Was on my granddaughter's summer reading list and there was only one book in circulation at the library....so with the Amazon purchase, she gets to keep the book for her self.

Great!!!

I wholeheartedly endorse this wonderful book by Joan Bauer. Here's why - the story, which is set in Cruckston, New Jersey centers on the life of Mickey Vernon, an 11-year-old boy who dreams of winning the big pool tournament. His sidekick and best friend Arlen Pepper, who is very gifted at math, also has a big dream of winning the annual science fair. Joan masterfully weaves a bully into the plot, the hulking, arrogant 13-year-old Buck Pender who is Mickey's arch-nemesis. As you follow the story you learn that even though Mickey's life is not rich in terms of money, it is indeed rich with the love and support of his mother Ruthie, his grandmother Poppy and a whole host of neighborhood adults who are rooting for Mickey. You will learn that Mickey's father died when Mickey was just a baby and his father's best friend, the mysterious Joseph Alvarez, returns to Cruckston to help Mickey become a better pool player. Read this story to find out who wins the tournament in the end and as you do, you will be come a winner yourself for choosing such a great book! I am a fifth grade teacher and read this lovely story aloud to my class each year. Ms. Zing

Wish I had read this book to my 5th grade class when I was still teaching. Many life lessons to expand on.

A story of a boy who tries to live in the shadow of his dead father. The main character lives with his mother as he tries to figure out who he is. His best friend is a whiz at math and helps him to learn and understand the angles of pool. An old friend of the boy's deceased father comes back into the picutre, much to the dismay of the main character's mother. Toward the end of the book the boy enters a local pool tournament and has to go up against some stiff competition. The book's end is so predictable that its like walking outside to see clouds in the sky. Still a fairly good read with a handful of boring sections. Get through the boring parts for a good book.

Mickey's father was a championship pool player before he died, back when Mickey was a baby. Now that Mickey is eleven, he is determined to follow in his father's footsteps, starting by beating the local bully in the town's big children's pool tournament. When an old friend of his father's walks back into their lives and offers to coach him, Mickey is thrilled. His mother, though, isn't quite so enthusiastic.The story is decent, although a bit cliche. It is obvious what will happen with all of the conflicts; there isn't a whole lot of tension. I didn't really like any of the characters in this story. I thought Mickey was really whiny, and he and his friend acted much younger than fifth grade. It seemed they were always screaming something, and I found that irritating.