Toby Hits the Shelves!
When I was visiting schools in Philadelphia and New Jersey last spring (2006), one of the teachers asked when my book, which I was holding in manuscript form, would be on sale.
“Next fall,” I said.
She nodded. “Oh, you mean in a few months - how exciting!”
“No,” I mean NEXT fall. As in, 2007,” I explained. “It takes while.”
Her expression said it all. I was tomorrow’s news.
At the time, late 2007 seemed like the distant future. Would people still be using napkins in the year 2007? Would my hover bike have a cup holder? Could I have my launch party on the moon? Well, it’s 2007. Napkins remain in wide use. My hover bike is a Honda Civic. And my launch party will probably be in Ballard. BUT THE BOOK IS ON SALE!!! And while I’m not exactly today’s news, I’m pleased to say Toby has not gone unnoticed. Check out the review from Booklist below!
So, pick up a copy today! Or order one! And if you already have one, go into a bookstore and tell them you heard about a new sports novel for middle-grade readers, that you can’t remember the name exactly, but you think it might be TOBY WHEELER: EIGHTH GRADE BENCHWARMER. Then, if the bookseller doesn’t have it say, “You’ve never heard of TOBY WHEELER: EIGHTH GRADE BENCHWARMER!?! Make sure your eyes go wide as you clutch the counter to keep from fainting from shock. Every little bit helps!
For now, here is one review from Booklist:
Eighth-grader Toby Wheeler is happy being a “gym-rat” playing pickup basketball games with his friends, so when the newly hired coach suggests he try out for the team, Toby is tempted. For one thing, it might bring him closer to his best friend, JJ, who is already a star. Lately, JJ has been ignoring Toby and treating him like a little kid. So Toby signs up, but the experience is not quite what he had in mind. Instead of being a player, he’s the twelfth man, the benchwarmer. Moreover, his budding relationship with recent arrival Megan becomes bumpy when he finds out the coach is Megan’s dad. This debut novel hits most of the right notes. Only the subplot about Toby’s parents and the conflict between his job in the lumber industry and hers as a conservationist seems unwieldy; otherwise, there’s plenty of basketball and the requisite amount of girl-boy interaction. With so much written about the friction between girl friends, it’s good to have a book that acknowledges that left-out feeling happens to boys, too.