Basketball Bats/Goof-Off Goalie (Gym Shorts)

"With McCauley's expressive spot illustrations accompanying Hicks's breezily simple text, this series will be a great stepping-stone for reluctant or new readers, easily introducing topical issues with its blend of humor and sports. A real score!" --Kirkus Reviews

"In this promising start for the Gym Shorts series, Hicks finds just the right balance between story line, play-by-play action, and wry humor. . . . Nearly every double-page spread includes a droll illustration by McCauley, the illustrator of Scieszka's Time Warp Trio series. A winner for young sports fans." --Booklist

"Hicks's new Gym Shorts series opens with two amusing, easy-to-read sports books for girls and boys. With enough technical jargon to keep aficionados happy and plenty of humorous subplots to appeal to the more casual sports enthusiast, these two books are just the thing for newly independent readers. . . . A great start to a promising series." --The Horn Book

"McCauley's illustrations have a childlike quality, giving the impression that the characters themselves doodled in their school notebooks. These titles are ideal for easy chapter-book readers who aren't quite ready for Matt Christopher or Mike Lupica." --School Library Journal

Basketball Bats
Henry and his four friends on Rockford Road are an unbeatable basketball team—on their driveway court. But without team T-shirts or an official name, can they take on the Tigers, a team that plays at the huge YWCA and has a player old enough to shave? Henry feels sure he can lead his friends to victory, but is he really a team player? Or is he a ball hog?

Goof-Off Goalie
There's nothing Goose wants more than to play goalie for his soccer team. It looks like so much fun—and so easy!—on TV. But can he quit daydreaming long enough to stop the ball? With Henry's training, Goose is sure he can go from goof-off to goalie in no time. Just as Goose starts to improve, Henry gets grounded because his grades are slipping. Will Goose help Henry in return? Or is being a goalie more important than friendship?

Basketball Bats and Goof-Off Goalie are both 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Books of the Year.