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    Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
    Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
    Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
    Audiobook5 hours

    Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip

    Written by Jordan Sonnenblick

    Narrated by Luke Daniels

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    There’s nothing All Star pitcher Peter Friedman loves more than baseball. It’s his life. He breathes baseball, dreams about it, and works his tail off to be great. Most kids are nervous about starting high school, but Pete’s amazing arm is going to make his life pretty easy. When you’re the star, girls, popularity, and all-around stud status are sure to follow.

    But Pete’s freshman year doesn’t turn out as planned. A pitching accident over the summer ruins his arm. If he can’t play baseball, what is he supposed to do? If he isn’t the star pitcher, then who is he? Pete’s best friend and pitching partner, AJ, doesn’t believe Pete—he tells him he’ll be back to his normal self by spring training. To make matters more complicated, there’s something going on with Pete’s grampa—he’s acting weird and keeps forgetting important things, and Pete’s mother doesn’t want to talk about it.

    The only person Pete can confide in is Angelika, the amazingly cute girl in his photography class who might like Pete as much as he likes her…only Angie doesn’t know if she can date someone who can’t be honest with himself, or with the people he’s closest to.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherBrilliance Audio
    Release dateMar 1, 2012
    ISBN9781611061505
    Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip
    Author

    Jordan Sonnenblick

    Jordan Sonnenblick is the author of the acclaimed teen novels Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, Notes from the Midnight Driver, and Zen and the Art of Faking it. In addition to being a writer, he’s a middle-school English teacher and would never penalize one of his students for bringing an imaginary friend to school. Jordan lives in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, with his wife and their two children. If he’s ever had an imaginary friend, he’s not telling! You can visit him on the Web at www.jordansonnenblick.com.

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    Reviews for Curveball

    4/5

    83 ratings14 reviews

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    • 4/5
      This was a really quick read that I enjoyed. The best parts were the ones that focused on Peter and his grandfather because of all the raw emotion. I was able to relate to those moments so much especially towards the end of the book.
    • 5/5
      I read it in like two days it was so good
    • 4/5
      This was a really quick read that I enjoyed. The best parts were the ones that focused on Peter and his grandfather because of all the raw emotion. I was able to relate to those moments so much especially towards the end of the book.
    • 5/5
      Sonnenblick really hit my heart with this book pete is a born natural baseball pitcher. He and his best friend AJ are a team with AJ catching. Pete has secrets. One that becomes apparent early in the book us that something is wrong with his elbow. Instead of resting it, telling his parents or seeking medical attention, he keeps sending curveballs and fast balls across the plate, ignoring the growing spin, until, one pitch, sends his body down into the pirate. The outcome, pete will never pitch again. In fact he has to learn to do simple basic tasks again. His next secret involves his grandpa who is a well known professional photographer. Pete and his grandpa are close and he has taught bus grandson the business. After pete ends up un a beginning photography class, the teacher accuses him of trying to get sn easy A, so sends he and another freshman Angelica to the advanced class. Now pete is making a name for himself in high school, not because of baseball, but his knowledge send talent for photography. Pete notices grandpa is blanking out and forgetting basic things. It's getting progressively worse and grandpa realizes this and begs pete not to tell his mother. He jeeps the secret, but doing that does not help grandpa. It's a beautiful story of family, love and friendship. It is heartbreaking to see grandpa fall out of life as Alzheimer's consumes his full, active past.
    • 4/5
      How do you deal with the disappointment that you won't be the star athlete on your high school team? Especially when it results from an injury that you can't come back from? For Peter, he turns to photography, an interest he's shared with his grandfather for most of his life. Peter finds he can participate in a different way by photographing the sport he once loved to play. But just as Peter's starting this, his grandfather begins to exhibit some weird behavior--giving Peter all his gear, forgetting things, and sometimes spacing out. Peter has to decide whether to obey his grandfather and say nothing or protect him by telling his parents.
    • 3/5
      I think this book is interesting. It's interesting because I can relate to it. I like to read books that I can relate to because it makes the book more exiting in my opinion. Peter hurt his arm so badly that his dream of being a baseball pitcher with his best friend in High school vanishes. I can relate to this because I once sprained my ankle while jumping on a trampoline and I wasn't able to play the sport I love(soccer) for a month. I had to basically find other hobbies to do while I was injured like Peter is forced to do and he turns to photography. He turned to photography because his grandpa was a photographer and that was an easy thing to turn to because he already had some experience from watching his grandpa at work.
    • 5/5
      Peter is facing his first year in high without his beloved baseball (he ruined his arm in the finals last Spring). Not only that, his grandfather, (his best friend) shows signs of losing it. Luckily, Peter discovers a photography class and Angelika... the rest is, well, history! Charming, innocuous look at 9th grade; Peter's voice rings true and the romance is deftly handled. Scenes with his grandfather (who is developing Alzheimers) add gravitas to an otherwise light-hearted look at High School. Kissy-face scenes with Angelika happen off-camera (no pun intended) and they attend a party where they unknowingly imbibe alcohol-laced punch (and are suitably 'punished' with hangovers). Parents are kind and supportive and the relationship with the grandfather is pretty believable.
    • 5/5
      This multi-layered offering is the story of Pete, a high school freshman who is trying to redefine his self-identity after a debilitating elbow injury ends his baseball career. At the same time, Pete's grandfather, with whom he shares a close relationship, is showing early signs of Alzheimers Disease and sees his 40 years as a career photographer slipping away from him. Secrets and half-truths build up as Pete tries to protect Grampa, maintain a friendship with his baseball-playing best friend, and navigate the new waters of romance with Anjelika, who has little patience for Pete's self-deceptions. Humorous and thought-provoking and altogether enjoyable.
    • 4/5
      Pete has a promising high-school athletic career ahead of him, catching when his best friend pitches and pitching when his best friend catches. Then he blows out his elbow badly enough that he'll never play again. He buries himself in photography, bringing him closer to his retired-photographer grandfather as his grandfather begins to drift further away. Pete's keeping his grandfather's memory lapses a secret, and also keeping his own prognosis from his best friend. And he's learning that he can't hide the truth indefinitely--the people he loves will still see through the face he's been trying to present.

      This is the second of Sonnenblick's books I've read, so maybe I'm more generous than I would be otherwise, but I liked this. I liked the characters and their interactions, I liked the writing style. I like seeing guys be guys without being jerks. I'll probably toss this into the high school booktalks in the fall.
    • 3/5
      Very very funny at times... but I often found myself being thrown out of the story by the improbable dialogue. These kids are a little too witty and self-aware *all the time*. But it wasn't AWFULLY improbable... or the story was too compelling and funny otherwise to give up just based on that. It would have gotten four stars if not for that problem.
    • 5/5
      Pete Friedman and his friend AJ are the hottest combination in baseball the summer before their freshman year. That is, were, right up until Pete throws that one fantastic fastball, the fastball that ruins his pitching arm forever. After the surgery and much therapy, Pete's photographer grandfather takes him to a very special location to try to snap the photo of a lifetime capturing eagles coming over the mountain ridge at the break of day. Only something strange happens,,,, Gramps misses the shot; in fact, he misses the moment altogether. And then he gives all of his very fancy, very expensive equipment to Pete. As Pete begins high school, he has much to get used to, even beyond the typical freshman woes. As photography becomes a major part of his life, so does Angelika (a girl in his photography class), being there for his gramp, and navigating around not telling his best friend AJ that he will never play baseball again. Girls will enjoy this book as much as the guys, probably best for grade 7 & up for girsl and 8 & up for the guys. 285 pages.
    • 4/5
      Pete has his whole high school career planned out: basketball in the winter, baseball in the summer, fending off the girls the whole year through. Things change the summer before freshman year when he snaps the cartilidge in his elbow - now he is no longer allowed to throw a ball, or put too much pressure on his elbow. As he tries to figure out what to do with his high school career, his grandfather's increasing dementia has caused him to give Pete all his photography equipment. Pete embraces this and becomes the sports photographer along with another freshman, Angelika, who he is quite excited to get to know. As Pete struggles with girls, friends, and expectations he is also increasingly aware of his grandfather's slips - something Grandpa doens't want his mom to know about. I love Jordan Sonnenblick. He weaves everyday humor, worry, and happiness into this book that is really less about Pete's desire to find out who he is now that he can't play baseball, and more about how to handle family and peer pressures (Classic coming-of-age story, Sonnenblick style). The only part I didn't like was that Pete and his friend went to a party and got drunk. Although good lessons were had by all, it could have been left out and the story would have been just as rich, but better relatable to wider range of readers.
    • 4/5
      Peter is starting high school after an injury that will end his career as a baseball player. He's juggling a lot and feeling the pressure from keeping some secrets about his grandpa's failing memory and his injury. Of course trying to navigate his budding relationship with his photography partner is tough too. It's a solid read, definitely Sonnenblick style.
    • 5/5
      Another hit from contemporary master Jordan Sonnenblick. Freshman year is turning out to be a wild ride for Peter Friedman. After an injury takes him off the field permanently, he's not exactly sure who he is now that he's not a baseball star, and he doesn't know how to tell his best friend that he'll never play again. His photography class is awesome - in no small part because he's partnered with the cute, smart Angelika. But he's worried about his grandfather who's forgetting things more and more often. Jordan Sonnenblick deals with some serious subjects with his trademark humor and authentic characters. This one is a must-read for fans of his previous works.