Double Foul

This fast-paced, humorous sports novel, told in third person, is the second in a series, the first being Camp Average. Mack and his 12-year-old buddies, even before this sequel, have cheekily re-christened Camp Avalon “Camp Average.”

This summer, Mack and his gang find that the camp has let girls in. Better yet, it’s no longer mandatory to enroll in competitive sports, and so Mack pictures himself spending all his time sunning at the beach and pool and immersing himself in relaxing water sports.

Turns out that’s not how it’s really going to play out if Mack’s nemesis, Camp Director Winston, has anything to say about it. Winston, who is all about winning high-stakes inter-camp sports competitions to bask in glory and leverage his reputation as a coach, has devised evil ways to manipulate those he deems valuable basketball players, including Mack, to play. Hence, the unfortunate, “coincidental” temporary closures of the pool, the waterfront – and anywhere else Mack tries to hang out.

Mack quickly deciphers what is going on, but he has no proof and can’t persuade all his buddies to rebel and scheme against the man. But the further Winston takes things, the more determined Mack becomes, risking friendships and game wins to expose and take down the director.

One of the most hilarious scenes is when Mack arranges a fake scout – complete with spy-coat, sunglasses and notebook – to sit in the bleachers. That galvanizes players to perform at 150% –and abandon any semblance of teamwork.

As the plot thickens, friends swap loyalties, pranks get played, sabotage and shenanigans rule, and everyone gets fitter while redefining winning. The plot is believable, the pacing brisk and the character arcs well executed.

Anyone who has done time at summer camp will appreciate the authentic camp scenes, from mess-hall chats and favored counsellors to Capture the Flag action. (Full disclosure: I spent all my childhood summers at camps and six of my adult years running one.)

The campers in Camp Average are delightfully high-spirited, diverse and competitive, not just in basketball, but in all the camp’s activities, including baseball and track. The girls are strong and inspirational characters with as much floor time as the boys.

The author, a former journalist, coach and camp counselor, clearly knows both sports and summer-camp mischievousness inside-out. The language is middle-grade-appropriate. He excels particularly at capturing preteen humor and writing nail-biting sports-action scenes.

With ten seconds left and a sudden scrum of five bodies massing around her, Nicole had nowhere to go. She dribbled backward, then crossed over to the left hand and broke free, dribbling hard for the left wing, with Andre staying between her and the hoop.

Five, four, three, two…

Nicole abruptly came to a two-foot jump about fifteen feet from the hoop. Andrew flew past as she threw up a desperate high-arcing shot a split second before the buzzer sounded.

Battle also breaks up tension with lots of spot-on middle-grade humour.

Weaknesses? It may be because it’s the second book in a series, but the author ill-advisedly introduces nine – repeat, nine – characters in just the first chapter. It’s enough to confuse any reader, especially when some of the campers have nicknames, besides. The author also alludes to events that occurred in the first book. That means those of us who haven’t read Camp Average feel briefly left out or muddled. Despite that, Double Foul still works as a standalone.

Although the dialogue is snappy and often fun, the book is so heavily dialogue-based that Mack’s point of view gets lost, which weakens the book’s potential. Indeed, sometimes the point of view shifts for a microsecond to other characters, which feels odd.

Anyone with no knowledge of basketball is going to feel occasionally left out in the cold by the text’s effusive use of basketball jargon, but then again, hardcore basketball fans are likely to love Double Foul beginning to end.

In general, high-action sports books written by people who know sports are all too rare, and given that sports-lovers aren’t always keen readers, that’s a shame. Happily, this author is on a roll, and his talents are needed. Fans of the series will look forward to the next volume, .