Crackback

by John Coy

In his gripping debut novel, author John Coy presents the high stakes world of high school football, where doing what it takes to win doesn't always mean doing the right thing.

When Miles Manning, a successful high school football player, discovers his teammates are using steroids--and one of them is his best friend--he's faced with a tough decision: Is he willing to do what it takes to win? Football is his life, and his family, especially his dad, is pinning its hopes on him. It's a lot of pressure for a high school junior to bear. This gripping look into the world of high school boys and athletes--and their struggle to be the best--is provocative and searingly honest.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Teen, School, Football

208 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and fiction and nonfiction picture books. John has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award for best first picture book, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, Notable Book for a Global Society, and the Burr/Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children’s Literature. He lives in Minneapolis and visits schools around the world.

Reviews

[Tay Mackey · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book is called Crackback. It is about a Kid named Miles Manning, and he is a junior in high school. He is a star on the football team. He is the only good underclassman on the team also. He faces all the challenges. He goes to parties with friends and has to avoid the peer pessure of not drinking and not smoking. The prom is also coming up and he has someone he wants to ask on his mind. You have to read the book to figure out if his team can win state and regions championship. I liked because I like sports books and it gives a good visual of the book. The book goes really deep to give you a good picture in your mind. I dislike about it the chapters are short. This is why i recommend this book to anyone that loves sports.

[02evann · Rating 3 out of 5]

Crackback Review
The book Crackback is a story about a kid, Miles Manning, who plays football in high school and learns more about life. When he is in the prime of his high school football career the team takes a bad turn. The coach gets cancer and the ignorant assistant coach takes over and cuts Miles. Miles then gets invited to take steroids with his friend Zach. He declines that and Zach and Miles stop being good friends. During the season he meets a girl named Lucia, who he really starts to like. As he gets to know her more he starts to appreciate life outside of football more than he did. He learns that even though his football season isn’t going so well he can have a good life outside of football. During one of the last games he gets put back into the game and makes a game winning mistake to never be able to play again. His mom tells him about the son that died before Miles was born. He would have had an older brother but the baby died when the baby was six months old. This hits him hard but makes him and his family much closer.

[Sam Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

Personal Response: I think the book was good because it had a lot of funny moments and very realistic moments. I could relate to a lot of the book in some ways. It is very detailed, but somewhat an easy read. I think they should have changed how the story went because the new coach taking over was kind of dumb and I think it would have been better if his dad became the coach instead.

Plot Summary: Miles is a football player in high school, and his best friend Zach was always trying to get him to do steroids. His coach was having a rough time with pancreatic cancer so he had to quit. The secondary coach had to take over for the rest of the season but he was kind of rough on the players. Miles was unhappy with this because the new coach would never listen to what he had to say. The coach also wanted all the players to start lifting weights, but Miles is a smaller kid than the rest but still was one of the best defensive players.

Characterization: The book is told through the first person point of view of Miles. He experiences many of the ups and downs teenagers can relate to such as mean coaches, parents who push him harder and harder to do things they want him to do, and how friends aren't always as they appear.

Recommendation: I would recommend this book to teen boys or high school students. It is higher reading level for most middle school students, but some might be able to. It is a very good book and has a lot of details about football, so I think it will be enjoyable for football players, too.

[Dakota Lenz · Rating 5 out of 5]

This story is about a high schooler named Miles Manning. It was his junior year of football. He started out great but then his friend started do use performance enhancing drugs. On the third game of the season he missed one block and cost the team the game. Then the coach told him he was not starting anymore so now he is stuck making a difficult choice; do drugs or don't.

I would recommend this book to a older generation between the years of 15 to 23. It is meant for high schoolers. It is more meant for high school football players. I think that everyone should get to read this book.That is what I think about it.

I gave this book 5 stars because it was a great book and was very inspirational. It teaches you that other people have family problems too. This was one of the best books I have ever read. That is why I rated the book 5 stars because I loved the book.

[Sherry Guice · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have seen this book "taught" to younger students because it is fairly easy with a Guided Reading Level of R. It is NOT a book for younger readers...Miles, the protagonist, is in 10th grade and has the concerns of a 10th grade boy. One of the conflicts he faces is his decision about steroids...My 8th graders really enjoyed it, read it fast, and got a lot out of it...

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book had a really great story behind it and i liked all the foreshadowing in the book i love how this book went into detail one example was when the main character miles had a indecent and the guy who he got in the indecent with had the tattoo time on his knuckles and i liked how that foreshadowed into something else.I love how miles makes good and bad choices and they all ead up to one big thing and its so cool and you always want to red more of the book because it just hooks you and you don't want to stop reading.

[Preston Ozenbaugh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave this book four stars because of how the author told the story and how descriptive he was. There were a lot of unexpected events that make you want to keep reading. The main character battling through tough times kept the book interesting. Watching him and his friends develop made it feel like you knew them. It felt like you were in the book with how descriptive you were.
This book would be great for anyone who wants to read a good sports book. This book is also very relatable for high school students. It is because the characters are just kids in high school, too. This is why I gave Crackback four stars and would recommend it for high schoolers who love sports.

[Jarrett Behrends · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked how this book was always exciting. The scenes were really interesting and kept me on edge. I would recommend this book to athletes, specifically football guys. They can use some of the things they learned from the book in the real world.

Honestly, there wasn't much I didn't like. This book always had something going on. It did a good job of showing different emotions. The most difficult thing about this book was how I could relate to Miles.

The theme in my opinion to this book is to keep working. Miles struggled at many points and wanted to quit but he didn't. It teaches the reader to always make the most of a situation.

[Sam Mcafee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crackback by John Coy was a very good book. It is a story about Miles Manning and his football team, peer pressure to do steroids, and friendship. The author's main purpose of writing this book was to entertain the reader with an exciting story. This is shown when Miles is talking to his mom about steroids. His mom says “Stay away from them do you understand?”(45). This quote shows that the author is trying to draw you. He is also trying to entertain you with an interesting quote.

The theme is do not give in to drugs no matter the pressure to do them. This is shown on page fifty-one “It works. You'll add muscle fast.” This is when Zach, Mile’s best friend is trying to get him to take steroids for the first time. He tries to convince him to take them by promising results. Miles doesn’t want to take them but eventually gives in under peer pressure. Miles greatly regrets his decision later in the book when he is demoted to second string for taking them. He wishes he never would have taken them.

The style of descriptive was very effective in explaining the plot and many events of the story. The author included every detail from many different scenes like Mile’s key interception in the last two minutes of one of their games. Even the characters in the story were very thoroughly described. Miles the main character was described many times. He was only five feet, ten inches tall and one hundred and fifty pounds but was one of the best hitters on the team. He was described as a kid who loved the game of football and had loved it his whole life. The reader feels as if they were there because of all the details given.

I thought that the book Crackback by John Coy was very good. I liked how the author made the story come to life with bold details. When reading the book you feel as if you are there going through the same experiences as the characters in the book because of the descriptive style. One thing i didn’t like about the book is that many of the players took steroids to enhance their performance. I didn’t like this because it gave me a bad feeling about the team and their success. This book reminds me of Gym Candy by Carl Deuker. Both books are about football and explain the harmful effects of steroids. I would recommend this book to anyone enjoys football or are just looking for an exciting book to read.

[Tee Whited · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miles Manning is an athlete at high school, that has big responsibilities and choices to make. He plays football and is the starting corner back on defense. A new coach sets him back and makes things really tough for him. Also his friends have been pressuring him. Should he be a follower and take after his friends to fit in; or should he make his own choice that will be better in the end.

This was a big year for the football team, they were favored to win the conference. That is a big deal, but the team knows that it is no guarantee. The season starts off well, and Miles is playing good. As the season went on Miles found out that his teammates were taking steroids. Miles did them at first but was uncomfortable doing so. Miles likes the coach they have now but he steps down, the new coach is Stahl. Miles does not like him. He soon benches Miles to second string. Everybody pressures him, and he gets overwhelmed. Although he handles it well, Miles has been through a lot. Their season is still alive, can he come back to save it?

This was a great book, if you are into sports. It really shows how much stress is on athletes, and what they have to deal with day to day. I recommend this book to people who are into sports, so you can relate to what Miles goes through throughout the book.

[Eric Weiler · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Crackback by John Coy, is a very inspiring and addictive book. Its story is a wild ride through a high schoolers football career, and the decisions he had to make to be successful. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone teenager or football fan who likes to read about the life of football players, and the pressure that they have on them. Miles is just a regular teenager, except that he is great at football. He has pressure on his shoulders from his coaches and especially his dad. Miles learns that his teammates are taking steroids to get bigger and stronger, and they want him to do the same. This book goes through the tough obstacles that Miles must face while deciding to juice or not to juice. One reason I like this book so much is that it teaches you to never give up. Miles is naturally a very good football player. He one day finds out that he will not be starting in one of the next games. Miles responds by saying, "sometimes a major change happens in such a simple way that you can't believe it. I'm not a starter. I've been starting since fourth grade. How can I not start?" (Coy 87). Miles clearly is questioning his coaches decision to not have him start. By doing this, it just pushes Miles to become better at football. However, his teammates realize his lack of ability and that is when he is offered the steroids. Now, Miles must choose between getting shredded illegally or sit on the bench disappointing his dad and teammates. Another reason why I liked this book so much, is that it has a good family based connection that Miles and his dad share. His dad says, "don't let anybody get to you, just keep trying to improve because no one is perfect at anything" (Coy 134). This scene is right after Miles get demoted to second string. I like this part because it shows the relationship that Miles and his dad possess. His dad clearly has faith in his son and tells him to never give up and that "no one is perfect at anything". Miles knows his dad is right and that is what inspires him to get better and to try to get his starting position back. Overall, this is a great book, and I would definitely read it again.

[Lynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

My grade 8 class was assigned to read Crackback for our literature circles. And let me just say, that this book is literally the worst book I have ever read. No joke. I have read so many books and this one is absolutely without a doubt the worst. When I was reading this I felt like throwing it against the wall. It was a total waste of time.

It's a superficial story about a highschool football player called Miles Manning. He has problems with peer pressure, body image and girls... just like a typical highschool guy. I feel like the plot is unoriginal and like this story line has been used over and over again. And maybe it could have been a good book if the writing was any good. That was the absolute worst part about it; the fact that the writing was sooo terrible. I could have written in that writing style when I was in grade 3. It had absolutely no sentence fluency whatsoever.
Thinking back, I guess the plot was ok and it could have been an incredible book if someone else had written it.
So, I was really curious about Jon Coy (the author) because naturally you wonder who would let anyone publish a book like this? Anyways, I found out this was his first novel, he's and english teacher and he is a librettist for the Minnesota Orchestra. Judging from the book crackback he must be a terrible english teacher, and I can't believe the Minnesota Orchestra is letting him write lyrics for their pieces.

So what I suggest : If you ever come in contact with this book or see it anywhere near you, burn it immediately. And if you don't carry around a lighter or matches you really should invest in one of them as soon as possible just in case you ever come in contact of this book.

[Austin James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crackback is a story about a high school kid who plays football. He and his best friend Zach both have a love for it. But when Zach starts to commit to taking pills that will increase his mass and weight along with pills that spike him up. Miles the protagonist. Starts to drift from Zach he goes home to his mother and father his mother always supports miles but his father always tells him what to do and everything he's doing wrong. He goes to football practice where he sees coach Sthal and coach Sepolski. Coach Sepolski always does his best to help the player while coach Sthal always tells players what they did wrong and is always rude to the players. Miles is happy whenever coach Sepolski helps him but then. Coach Sepolski gets cancer and has to step down as head coach. Miles is sad but meets a girl named Lucia. He and Lucia talk and they talk about their home lives and school. Miles has a game where if they lose their seasons are over and if they win they go to playoffs. They start playing but when two men get hurt MIles has to go in he is happy about this and he destroys them. On the last three, he jumps in front of a receive and wins the game. When he gets home his mom tells him about a baby she had when she was 18 his name was luke and her and Mile's father loved him but Luke died one night and they were so sad. His father was affected by it the most which are why he's always so hard. But the family starts to come back together and love each other again like in the old days. This was a great book for anyone who likes sports and feels like they don't belong or that they mess up because this book can relate to that and can make them feel better.

[Ahmed Farhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is basically about a boy named Miles who's not popular in school and has no way to become popular, except football. He joins the team and makes some good plays and becomes the star for a bit. At one time he even gets a girl to like him. It all goes well until things fall apart with his friends and his coach develops cancer. He's also peer pressured with steroids and gets yelled at by his dad. Can he survive and work his way back up?

In this book I liked the combination of all the pressure. I feel like that describes real life situations for some high schoolers even here at DF. I feel like the author used a thrilling style. It's like other thrilling books I read but obviously the sports scenario makes it different. Sports people I feel for sure should read this one because it might describe them.

[Xavier]

I am still reading crackback by Jhon Coy. So far this book is about a typical high school teenager who loves to play football. The main character Miles Manning is in high school and plays football for his school he is small but he plays defence because he can hit. His coaches Sepolski and Stahl are always on him but its mainly coach Stahl is on him to be better. For example Miles got an interception in the begining of the game and at the end of the game the score was 45-3 and coach Stahl said to entire team you should have held them to zero. His best friend Zach also plays defence. After football practice Zach takes him home but before he tells him bye he gives him two gold capsules and he calls it "Rip Blast" and says take it before our next game its just caffeine like drinking red bull it will get youready for the game. Miles says bye and goes into the house his dad is there watching tv they talk and goes up to his room his dad also played football was really good in college but broke is leg his senior year probly would have went pro.

[07JefferyF Ferreira · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book Crackback is about a Kid named Miles Manning; he is a junior in high school that isn't the brightest or handsomest kid. Miles and his best freind Zack are the youngest players on the football team that is rank 3rd in state, and they hope to com-peat for the title. He faces many deli-mas with his new coach, and some of his teammates are trying to pressure him into performance enhancing drugs. He also struggles with his home life and the connection he has with his father that he just wants to impress. He meets a new girl that he falls for and constantly is thinking of her. The new coach just wants wins and he feels that he needs to get stronger and faster, but how far will he go to do that. How far will he go to win.

[Benny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book Crackback by John Coy. This is a very good book, and one of my favorites! It takes place on the football field, Miles Mannings house, at Miles' school and at parties. The main character is Miles Manning. Miles is a junior in high school and he also happens to be a star on the football team. They are favorites to be state champions this year until their star quarterback gets hurt. Then one day, Miles' best friend gives him steroids to take. Is it really worth it? Find out by reading this great book! I really like this book because I play football also and a lot of his feelings he feels and the way he does things, I have experienced also. If your looking for a action-packed thriller, then this is the book for you!

[Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading the book Crackback was very spectacular because personally I'm into football books.
The main character Miles Manning a teen that plays high school football and plays corner back. There coach couldn't complete the season with them, so they found a new coach named coach stahl. One night there was a game where miles made a mistake, which cost them the game, so coach stahl benched him. Miles is pretty mad about this decision, because he didn't even know he was going to be benched. This relates to me because I know what footballs like and if you do make a mistake, there are some coaches that will not like you anymore and just bench you :). If you like sports book, this is a great book to read. I've really enjoyed reading this book. I hope you guys will also enjoy it to.

[Erwin Cook · Rating 5 out of 5]

I gave this book CrackBack 5 stars because I love this book so much because it's about football and I love the game of football. This book is about a young man named Miles Manning who is the popular kid in school. Miles is also the coolest kid on their football team and this year they were sure that they were going to the championship. Everyone was pressuring him about the team and how to keep them in check. Miles later found out that some of his teammates were using steroids, even his best friend was using them too. Miles tried to make a decision because he knows that everyone was depending on him.

[Shane Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crack back was a greatly worded book. It's a great quick read and if you are a sports player you will love it. It is very detailed book with action suspense and others all wrapped up in one quick read. It's about a freshman in high school he is one of the best football players in town. He's playing on the varsity team that comes with some temptations. He fighting a battle against the temptations even known he's trying to still remain the stud in his grade.

[Jackson Hoeft · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crack back is a very good book and exciting. The main character is miles manning he is very good at football. He finds out his best friend is doing steroids. And also they are starting to drink beer and smoke. It is very tempting not to do any of that. This is a very good book and would suggest if you ever have any free time I would read this book.

[Mariah Roze · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a cute book! A very easy read and I enjoyed reading it because it was a local author. There were some football terms in there that I didn't understand and weren't explained in the story, so readers that already know football would enjoy this book more.

[Christian Jones · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good easy read if you like football.

[Mike · Rating 5 out of 5]

Did you know that in 2018 a survey concluded that over 1 million people in the US have used steroids. In this book Crackback by John Coy, steroids are just one of the problems Miles faces while the book also takes many twists and turns following the main character Mile’s Manning, in this book about a high school football team. I loved this book. The three criteria I used to judge this book were length, development time, and how swiftly the book moves.
This book takes a lot of twists and turns throughout the story. The story starts off by giving us a small amount of information about the main character Miles Manning. When we get into the story Miles starts to believe he in untouchable, and no one can take his spot in sports or in life. But when the coach gets sick and gets replaced, Miles gets caught messing around at practice and then the coach pulled him into his office and told him that he would not play another snap as long as he was the coach. After Miles told his parents they had no sympathy whatsoever for him, because they had preached to him since he was a baby that respect was the key to a good life and he had not respected his coach, therefor they believed that he was not working hard enough and he was complacent and thought he should have his spot on the team locked up forever.
Though I didn’t like Miles’s complacency, I still liked the book. My first criteria is how realistic the book is. This was a good book because when I was reading it I liked how he interpreted the football players because to my knowledge, as a football player, is that everything he put in the book has happened in a locker room at one time or another. My second criteria was the length of the book. This is important because whenever I read along book i feel like the author is just repeating himself a lot. Here is a quote that demonstrates the length of the book being too short. “When I got home my sister was in her room and my mom was making dinner for the rest of the night I kept to myself and let everyone be, to try and make the situation better”(Coy 172) This shows that the book is short because when the author sums up 7 hours in a sentence makes the story shorter than it needs to be. My Third criteria is development time. This was important to me because if a book develops slowly then I am more likely to put the book down and never pick it up again. Here is a quote that represents how slowly the book develops, “As i rode my board down to the skate park I went slowly thinking about everything that had been going on in my life up to this point and started to try and think of what I needed to do to get back on my feet.”(Coy 132) This shows how slowly it develops because when the author puts full pages of non schalont things in there it makes me want to stop reading the book. The fourth criteria that I used to judge this book is how well the book moves. This was an important aspect to the book for me because if the book does not move good and I get bored right away I would feel as if I am going to put the book down and never be able to read it again. A quote that explains this is. “The running back came my way and made a sharp cut but all I can think about is the siren going off in the background and I thought to myself will my dad still be here or will he have to leave and go and save lives.”(Coy 99) This shows that the book moves very swiftly because when I see that the author can go from talking about something very happy for the main character to something tragic that well it makes me want to keep reading.
Even though this was a very short book I liked it. I liked this book because I play football and I can see myself or my friends getting into many of the situations and like Miles I would not know how to handle it. Another reason I liked the book is because when it ended it made want to keep reading even though he book was over. A final reason I liked this book is because when I was reading it I thought about some of the hard situations I am going to have to make in my life and I feel like this book helped me see both sides of the spectrome. Overall I think this book could use a lot of work but it was also very fun to read and diagnose.

[Sheridan · Rating 4 out of 5]

"Crackback" by John Coy is an incredible book that really made me want to pick it up and finish it. This novel keeps the reader entertained the whole story showing the life of Miles Manning a football player for his high school, who faces challenges hes never gone up against making some of them relatable because he plays sports and is around my age. If I was to suggest this book to someone I would have to say that this book fits people who first off have read a John Coy, and also those who love sport genre books because this shows how a football team comes together and has an incredible comeback. "Crackback" is also good for teenagers specifically seeing that it relates to those in high school as it mentions stuff like drugs, relationships, and finding yourself in this world for instance what you want to do in your life. "Box out" and "Top of the order" are books by john coy that if you enjoyed would also like this book due to the similar writing styles and telling of very intriguing story's. This book is filled with literary devices which improve the book drastically making it have a better flow and making it easier to put a picture in the readers head. The devices used make you feel more apart of the book and act how you the reader would conquer your troubles. One device to show up a lot is imagery, this used in just about every page of the book which is using certain words or phrases to implement a picture in the readers head so they can get a better understanding of what is going on and feel more emotional with what they are saying or doing. In this book the imagery can be very crazy as it has helped in times when it was confusing so for the author, John Coy, to do that is incredible. In chapter four on page sixteen the scene is set with John Coy writing "The ball comes right at me. I take a step, catch it, and run for the end zone. Wide-open green field. Nobody can touch me as I fly for the score. I hold the ball over my head and hand it to the ref." this particular part is during one of their football games and Miles Manning, the main character, is on defense who intercepts the ball and scores for his home team. The image put in place makes the reader more curios about how everything plays out and overall can help the reader with the story or issue. There are a lot of conflicts in this story which brings me to my next literary device, conflict. This literary device is used for protagonists to overcome and achieve there dream or goal. A few of those conflicts are Miles and his Dads relationship which always ends in fights or disagreements on how Miles plays football, another is Miles is kicked off the starting lineup, there starting QB gets hurt and then there second string QB also gets hurt, and finally Miles is offered and takes PEDs (Performance Enhancement Drugs) throughout the season. All of these complications steer Miles life and how the story depicts, for example in chapter eight on page 39 it says "It's bad. Jonsey has a separated shoulder. So bad, he's out for the season." This is just one of the major problems in the book that impact greatly for the football team. For my final literary device I chose point of view, this device decides how the layout of this text and how the whole plot comes together. This is used throughout the entire book like in chapter one on page three "I turn the last corner and sprint back" this is giving us a view point of what he is experiencing and how his actions have either good or bad consequences. The literary devices help the reader in all sorts of ways making it more enjoyable and clearer so its understandable, John Coy develops his writing using Imagery, Conflict, and Point view.

[Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Crackback by John Coy

To most people football is just a game, but for Miles Manning it is much more than that. Football is his life. Since a young age football is all he has ever cared about. This year he is starting corner back as a junior for the team favored to win the state championship. To be the best you have to be willing to do whatever it takes to win, even if that means disregarding rules, ethics, and safety. Miles has to make decisions that will reshape his entire life. Miles has more expectations than ever from his family, friends, teammates, and the entire town. He begins to realize that there is more to life than just football. Through the course of the season he grows and matures as he is molded into a man.
One thing that made the book more enjoyable to me was that way Coy constructed the chapters. Each chapter is short with a clear purpose. Then the next chapter is always completely different from the last. Every chapter has short snippets of action making it very easy to follow. Because it is quick bursts of activity is makes it very desirable to keep reading. Every chapter is a new small story separate from the others but they all come together in a way that contributes to the overall plot. Coy did a great job of putting a different spin on this aspect of the book.
Another thing that really jumped out at me was how accurate and relatable the book was. This is completely fictional but it felt like it could have been a true story because of how real the characters felt. When reading it I often found myself putting myself in the protagonist’s shoes because of how close it is to a day in the life of an average teen. I think that anybody reading this will see a little piece of themselves in Miles as he matures. I think at some point everybody faces some of the same challenges as him which makes it even more intriguing to read.
All in all John Coy did an excellent job when writing this book. I found myself cutting into my sleep schedule staying up later than usual just to read another couple chapter every night. I couldn’t get enough of it. This isn’t just a book about sports. It’s about maturation and relationships. I would recommend this book to all teens and especially to athletes.

[Austin Jones · Rating 5 out of 5]

Crack Back, by John Coy is a fiction book where the story focuses mostly on the main characters’ problems ( Miles ), his family, football and his school life. The book also shows that he isn’t the best player on the school’s football team and how he gets upset when one of the coaches’ get on to him a lot. He also has to deal with bullies at his school which he doesn’t really handle well.


One element that I really liked about the book is where the book shows how his relationships develop fairly quickly and how things happen one after another. Secondly, the book shows how Miles develops in a very interesting way. I was really surprised at the end to find out that Miles has enough people skills to get someone to like him. Thirdly, I was surprised when Miles gets tied up and gets thrown into the water from a stranger where he and his friends were doing a prank on.

Another element that I really enjoyed was the characters. Firstly, the book shows how Miles likes multiple girls in his school while being scared of being turned down. Secondly Zach, (Miles' friend) who is also on the school’s football team, offers Miles steroids to get stronger which Miles says no to which makes Zach upset. Fourthly I thought it was really original because the prank that Miles and his friends were doing was called shining, which I think is original.


The last element that I really enjoyed was the suspense. Firstly, when Miles started taking the steroids that he bought, he would flush them when his mom was near him which makes me want to know what if his mom catches him. Secondly, when he was “Shining” or pranking other people he started getting chased by a random stranger that he pranked which made me really want to know what was going to happen. Thirdly, when he wanted to take the steroids with Zach, which actually made Zach upset because Miles said no before which made me want to know what is going to happen.


I would recommend this book if you like sports or romance. If you do not like this type of book, I don’t recommend you reading it.

I thought the book was really interesting and how great the pacing of relationships with other people is. Also I think the story was good on focusing on different things and not just one part of it for a long time.

[Layne O'Neil · Rating 4 out of 5]

The title of the book I am doing this book review on is Crackback. The author of this book is John Coy. The story takes place in Atlanta Georgia. The Main character is Miles Manning, his dad, his friend Zach and Coach Stahl. I found this book in my high school library. My teacher told us to pick out a book for a book report so I found a book about something that interests me.
The book starts off right before football season starts. Miles and his teammates are lifting weights and getting ready for the season. Then his best friend Zach tells Miles that they are all on steroids. Zach and the other teammates try to get Miles on steroids. Miles does not use steroids. Then the head coach steps down from his position because he has cancer. So now the backup coach is the new head coach. The new head coach, Coach Stahl changes what they do. He changes players and how they use their offense. Then the team starts the real season and plays their first game. They are up by a couple points at the very end. There is one last play and the receiver gets past Miles and they lose the game. The coach is very mad at Miles and takes him out of his starting position. They go on to lose the next few games. Until they get the wildcard spot in the playoffs against the best team. The guy that starts over Miles gets hurt and he goes back in. The game is in the last few minutes and Miles makes an amazing stop and now Miles's team is in scoring position. The timer is running out and now the game is on the offense. They score the touchdown and win the game.
I thought the book ending couldn't have been any better. This is the perfect definition of team sports. You can not control what happens and you have to hope the coach knows what's right for the team and for you. My favorite part of the book is at the very end when Miles makes a crucial play and is the reason his team beats the best team in the league.
This book shows you that sometimes you can get a bad coach and that sometimes stuff doesn’t go your way. Most books about sports have similar plots and even movies are close to what happens in the book. I think that other football players would most likely enjoy this book.

[Cory · Rating 3 out of 5]

Over the summer, I read the book Crackback. The book is about a high school football starter who is a junior named Miles Manning. Miles has been playing football since fourth grade and has always been a starter for varsity football since he got into high school. His family consists of a loving mother, a very serious father, and an eight-year-old sister named Martha. Miles has a best friend named Zack who he has known since his early childhood.
Miles is a character to relate to. He is nervous talking to girls, he likes to hang out with friends, he plays football, he works a part time job, and he goes to school. He tried to ask a girl out to the homecoming dance and was rejected. This moment gave him the mindset to not go to homecoming, which is a common thing guys would do, in my opinion. During his football season, Miles discovers Zack is using steroids. When Zack offers Miles the steroids, Miles rejects them. Zack got angry that Miles didn't take the steroids with him and became friends with another teammate on the football team who uses steroids. One night after a loss, Miles went out with a friend named Strangler to pull pranks on couples. During this prank, Miles gets caught and is chased down through a forest. The pursuer catches Miles and beats him up, giving Miles a broken nose. The next day, Miles' family sits down for dinner, when his father has an outburst and sends Martha and Miles out of the room to argue with Miles' mother.

While I thoroughly enjoyed the book and the main character, Miles, the book left me with some questions at the end. I wondered: What would happen next year with football? How would Miles' and Zack's friendship turn out? Are the parents getting divorced? Would Miles' nose be okay? Crackback is a captivating, short novel if you like sports, and for this reason, I would recommend the book.

[Cody Cyboron · Rating 4 out of 5]

I would have to give this book a ⅘ because it is a very relatable story. It has a good storyline, with lots of relatable problems, and great spacing out of action and lots of problems that get resolved at the end. It’s not the best because it wasn’t very funny, and for the first ⅓ of the book, I wanted to put it down.
I liked the very relatable storyline. For example, the whole story, the main character had problems with his football coach, father, and some problems with relationships with some people at school. With his father, he also agrees that their head coach is very bad, and he takes the main character’s side on it. His friends gets into drugs to “help” him with football, and they lose their friendship.
Another reason is because throughout the book, there is a very leveled out spacing of all of the conflicts of all the different problems. The storyline was very well thought out, and that is the reason why I pushed all the way through the book. I knew that there would be a good ending in the book and I wanted to see what it was. It was very satisfying, and a good ending.
In the end of the book, it had a very satisfying ending. His father saw him do very good on a game, and the main character found out why he is always hard on him, and they stopped fighting. His head coach never got along with him, but the ending wasn’t really about football at all. It was a risk because the whole book was about football, but it wasn’t bad at all. And, he finally became friends with his old friend and resolved all of his relationship problems.
In the end, this book wasn't the best. But, it had a good storyline that resolved all of the relatable problems that helped. The book thrived to get up to its level and get all of these good reviews and new it has mine.