…a brisk, heartfelt…novel about the risks of pursuing a sport that can devastate one's brain…Korman succeeds in showing the Popoviches' frustration with Charlie's deteriorating condition, as well as sympathetically portraying their confusion at how Marcus, an outsider, has become a better judge than they are of what Charlie can still remember and enjoy. And while Korman goes in, not surprisingly, for an inspirational endgame…he makes an intelligent choice in the way he wraps up Charlie's unsettling story.
The New York Times
Pop delivers suspense, humor, sports action, and a compelling look at the damage those "pop"s in football can cause
Gordon Korman's books appeal to a wide range of kids and adults and can pull in even reluctant readers. Share Pop in your home or classroom; sports fans in particular won't be able to put it down.
When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn't know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes up a friendship with a man named Charlie, the best football player Marcus has ever seen. He can't believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is Charlie Popovich, or "the King of Pop," as he'd been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker.
Charlie turns out to be a prankster, and his actions get Marcus in trouble. He's also the father of the quarterback at Marcus's new school-who leads the team in icing out the new kid.
The story of a good kid's struggle to land on his feet in a new town after his parents split up combines with compelling sports action and even some romance in Gordon Korman's Pop.
Pop delivers suspense, humor, sports action, and a compelling look at the damage those "pop"s in football can cause
Gordon Korman's books appeal to a wide range of kids and adults and can pull in even reluctant readers. Share Pop in your home or classroom; sports fans in particular won't be able to put it down.
When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn't know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes up a friendship with a man named Charlie, the best football player Marcus has ever seen. He can't believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is Charlie Popovich, or "the King of Pop," as he'd been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker.
Charlie turns out to be a prankster, and his actions get Marcus in trouble. He's also the father of the quarterback at Marcus's new school-who leads the team in icing out the new kid.
The story of a good kid's struggle to land on his feet in a new town after his parents split up combines with compelling sports action and even some romance in Gordon Korman's Pop.
![Pop](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.11.4)
Pop
Narrated by Nick Podehl
Gordon KormanUnabridged — 6 hours, 7 minutes
![Pop](http://img.images-bn.com/static/redesign/srcs/images/grey-box.png?v11.11.4)
Pop
Narrated by Nick Podehl
Gordon KormanUnabridged — 6 hours, 7 minutes
Overview
Pop delivers suspense, humor, sports action, and a compelling look at the damage those "pop"s in football can cause
Gordon Korman's books appeal to a wide range of kids and adults and can pull in even reluctant readers. Share Pop in your home or classroom; sports fans in particular won't be able to put it down.
When Marcus moves to a new town in the dead of summer, he doesn't know a soul. While practicing football for impending tryouts, he strikes up a friendship with a man named Charlie, the best football player Marcus has ever seen. He can't believe his good luck when he finds out that Charlie is Charlie Popovich, or "the King of Pop," as he'd been nicknamed during his career as an NFL linebacker.
Charlie turns out to be a prankster, and his actions get Marcus in trouble. He's also the father of the quarterback at Marcus's new school-who leads the team in icing out the new kid.
The story of a good kid's struggle to land on his feet in a new town after his parents split up combines with compelling sports action and even some romance in Gordon Korman's Pop.
Editorial Reviews
Shortly after moving to a new town, Marcus encounters Charlie, a strange, middle-aged man who turns out to be an incredible football player. Marcus, hoping to be a varsity quarterback at his new school, begins meeting Charlie regularly. Charlie is a challenging and rewarding opponent, but there are mysteries about him that plague Marcus (“It was annoying, but waiting to see if Charlie was going to show up soon became Marcus's personal reality TV show”). Most puzzling: “For some reason, he thought he was a teenager, too.” At school, Marcus loses the quarterback position to school hero Troy—Charlie's son. Troy is oddly guarded about his father, but Marcus eventually figures out Charlie's secret: the repeated blows the former NFL player received resulted in early-onset Alzheimer's disease. Korman (The Juvie Three) skillfully weaves football terminology into the narrative without making it sound like a playbook, and Marcus's heartfelt loyalty to Charlie is believable, if the plotting is occasionally less so. Despite the athletic focus, this thought-provoking story is, at its core, about friendship and should have broad appeal. Ages 12–up. (Sept.)
Gr 7–10—New to town, Marcus spends the summer before his junior year practicing football alone at a local park hoping to meet someone from the high school team. Instead, he meets an eccentric middle-aged man named Charlie who teaches Marcus more about football, tackling, and the art of the "pop" than he could have imagined, and the two strike up an unusual friendship. Charlie lives by no set schedule and can't seem to remember that Marcus's name is not Mac. Marcus tries out and makes the team, but learns that they are not a welcoming group, fearful that the newcomer will upset their perfect record. To make matters worse, the star quarterback, Troy, is Charlie's son, and his ex-girlfriend, Alyssa, has the hots for Marcus. Gradually, Marcus figures out that Charlie is an ex-NFL star who is suffering from early on-set Alzheimer's, a secret his family tries to keep well hidden. Despite these obstacles on and off the field, Marcus is determined to help his friend. Nick Podehl's skillful narration of his novel (HarperTeen, 2009) seamlessly flows between Marcus's teenage obliviousness and Charlie's middle-aged gruffness, adding another affective level to this heartbreaking story. Yet with plenty of football action, this atypical sports story will hook even the most reluctant readers/listeners.—Karen T. Bilton, Mary Jacobs Library, Rocky Hill, NJ
Football will be the way Marcus Jordan makes the transition to his new school, so he practices in the park, preparing for tryouts. There he meets the enigmatic Charlie, a middle-aged man who knows much about football and conveys what Marcus has been missing in his game: fearlessness. "I love the pop! Sometimes you actually hear it go pop!" As bad luck would have it, Charlie is the father of Troy, star of the team, who takes an instant dislike to Marcus. Soon it is clear that Charlie is not eccentric but suffering from early-onset Alzheimer's caused by all the hits he took as a player in the NFL, a fact his family works hard to conceal. Marcus's involvement with Charlie exposes the secret and reveals the family tensions it has created. This carefully structured story, despite the difficult issue at its core, engages readers primarily with complex characters (including secondary ones) and well-drawn relationships. The football scenes are riveting, but the poignant human drama more than holds its own. Banking his usual over-the-top humor, Korman goes straight to the heart. (Fiction. 12 & up)
A brisk, heartfelt and timely novel.” — New York Times Book Review
“Korman goes straight to the heart.” — Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Thought-provoking.” — Publishers Weekly
“Fantastic…Perfectly captures the football experience.” — Newsday
“Funny, poignant and full of football action, POP hits you hard and doesn’t let up.” — Tim Green, author of the New York Times bestselling Football Genius and Football Champ
Praise for SUPERGIFTED: “Humorous, relatable, and full of heart, Korman’s gift for understanding the middle school mind is on full display.” — School Library Journal
Praise for SUPERGIFTED: “Managing a large cast of characters with ease, Korman creates a comedy of compounded errors leading to a public disaster and, strangely enough, a happy ending.” — Booklist
Praise for SUPERGIFTED: “Another chortleworthy outing from Korman.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for MASTERMINDS: PAYBACK: “Packed with surprising twists, high-speed chases, and plenty of near misses.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for MASTERMINDS: PAYBACK: “Korman’s action-packed caper series comes to a satisfying close…with a masterful balance of humor, thought-provoking questions, and adventure” — Booklist
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “A thrilling and fun series perfect for middle grade adventure seekers” — School Library Journal
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver thrills…Volume 3 can’t get here soon enough.” — Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Packed with enough thrilling action and suspense to keep the pages turning...[a] highly entertaining series.” — Booklist
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “A terrific page-turner. Full of unexpected twists and revelations. Buckle up.” — James Patterson
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “Masterminds takes readers on a wild ride with terrific humor, a surprising mystery, and characters you can’t help but root for.” — Brandon Mull, New York Times bestselling author of the Fablehaven series and the Five Kingdoms series
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “[A] compelling, twisty mystery . . . [with] a truly gratifying payoff” — Booklist (starred review)
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “This tense, fast-paced story will have readers racing toward the cliffhanger ending.” — Publishers Weekly
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “This tense, fast-paced story will have readers racing toward the cliffhanger ending.” — Kirkus Reviews
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “This unique and action-packed story is filled with twists and turns that readers will not see coming. A wonderful start to what promises to be a thrilling series.” — School Library Journal
Praise for UNGIFTED: “Touching, without being overly sentimental, Ungifted is a gem for readers looking for a story where the underdog comes out on top.” — Voice of Youth Advocates (VOYA)
Praise for UNGIFTED: “From its lovable-robot jacket art to its satisfying conclusion, this will please Korman’s fans and win him new ones.” — ALA Booklist
Praise for UNGIFTED: “Donovan has a goofy kindness that charms characters and readers alike … The message is tolerance, and Korman expertly and humorously delivers it in an unpretentious and universally appealing tale.” — School Library Journal
Praise for UNGIFTED: “Funny and insightful.” — Publishers Weekly
Praise for SUPERGIFTED: “Managing a large cast of characters with ease, Korman creates a comedy of compounded errors leading to a public disaster and, strangely enough, a happy ending.
A brisk, heartfelt and timely novel.
Fantastic…Perfectly captures the football experience.
Funny, poignant and full of football action, POP hits you hard and doesn’t let up.
Praise for SUPERGIFTED: “Managing a large cast of characters with ease, Korman creates a comedy of compounded errors leading to a public disaster and, strangely enough, a happy ending.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “Masterminds takes readers on a wild ride with terrific humor, a surprising mystery, and characters you can’t help but root for.
Praise for UNGIFTED: “Touching, without being overly sentimental, Ungifted is a gem for readers looking for a story where the underdog comes out on top.
Praise for UNGIFTED: “From its lovable-robot jacket art to its satisfying conclusion, this will please Korman’s fans and win him new ones.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver thrills…Volume 3 can’t get here soon enough.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “[A] compelling, twisty mystery . . . [with] a truly gratifying payoff
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “A terrific page-turner. Full of unexpected twists and revelations. Buckle up.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver thrills…Volume 3 can’t get here soon enough.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: CRIMINAL DESTINY: “Cat-and-mouse chase scenes deliver thrills…Volume 3 can’t get here soon enough.
Praise for MASTERMINDS: “[A] compelling, twisty mystery . . . [with] a truly gratifying payoff
While training for football tryouts in his new town, Marcus befriends a middle-aged man named Charlie, who is a former NFL star and a practical joker. Charlie is also suffering from early dementia. Their friendship rankles Charlie's son, Troy, a big man on campus at the high school. Troy feels that Marcus should back off—from his father, from wooing his ex-girlfriend, and from coveting his position as quarterback. Korman's touching sports story is read with care by Nick Podehl. Although listeners will never believe his female voices and his upstate New York accent is not fully convincing, these are minor quibbles. Podehl transitions from teen to adult seamlessly; his growling coaches are especially charming. This is a captivating and heartbreaking audiobook. G.A.D. © AudioFile 2010, Portland, Maine
Product Details
BN ID: | 2940169701203 |
---|---|
Publisher: | Brilliance Audio |
Publication date: | 08/25/2009 |
Edition description: | Unabridged |
Age Range: | 12 - 17 Years |
Read an Excerpt
Pop
Chapter One
Marcus Jordan killed the motor on his Vespa and surveyed the flowering shrubs and tall maples surround-ing him. Nice. Picturesque, even.
More like The Twilight Zone.
For starters, the name...Three Alarm Park, after some chili cook-off that used to be held there in the sixties or something.
Marcus jumped down, pulling the gym bag off his shoulders. From it, he produced the items that would turn Three Alarm Park into a practice facility...a regulation football, a length of rope, and a round, plastic picture frame with the glass knocked out.
He looked around, noting that the only other living creature was a squirrel. This was the fourth straight day he'd trained here, and he'd yet to exchange a word of conversation with anybody but himself. Dead summer...great time to move to a new state. Thanks, Mom.
He tossed the rope over a high branch and strung up the picture-frame hoop. Then he started the target swinging gently and retreated about ten yards.
Hike!
Just like he'd done a million times before, he took three steps back and let fly.
The ball sizzled, a perfect spiral, missing the hoop by at least four feet.
Marcus snorted. Lonely and lousy. A one-two punch. With the added insult of having to chase down your own pass so you could mess it up all over again.
He worked his way up to four for ten, then eleven for twenty, and then he broke out the water bottle to give himself a party. Here in the middle of the open field, the only protection from the August sun was a large granite modern art statue titled Remembrance, which looked like a titanic paper airplane had fallen from the sky and buriedits nose in the grass at a forty-five-degree angle. A river of perspiration streamed down the middle of Marcus's back. So he did what any self-respecting football player would do. He cranked it up a notch. Football was the only sport where adverse weather conditions made you go harder instead of quitting. He'd still be out here if it were only ten degrees and he were slogging through knee-deep snow and blizzard conditions.
Intermission...a dozen laps around the field, to really feel the pain. Then he was throwing again, from different angles and farther away. His completion percentage went down, but his determination never wavered. There was something about launching a football thirty-five or forty yards and having it go exactly where you aimed it. To a quarterback, it was as basic as breathing.
Sucking in a lungful of moist, heavy air, Marcus pumped once and unleashed the longest pass of the day, a loose spiral that nevertheless seemed to have a lot of power behind it. It sailed high over the apex of the Paper Airplane before beginning its downward trajectory toward the hoop.
For the first time in four days, Marcus spied another human being in the park. The figure was just a blur across his field of vision. It leaped into the air, picked off the pass, and kept on going.
The receiver made a wide U-turn and, grinning triumphantly, jogged up to Marcus.Marcus smiled too. "Nice catch, bro..."
He was looking at a middle-aged man, probably around fifty years old. He was tall and built redwood solid. But the guy ran like a gazelle and had caught the ball with sure hands, tucking it in tight as he ran. He had definitely played this game before.
"Sorry," Marcus added, embarrassed.
"For what?" The man flipped him the ball. "Making you look bad?"
"I just thought...never mind. My name's Marcus. Marcus Jordan."
With lightning hands, the man knocked the ball loose, scooped it up on the bounce, and bellowed, "Go deep!"
Starved for company, Marcus did not have to be asked twice. He took off downfield, glancing over his shoulder.
"No...deep!"
"I'm running out of park!" Marcus shouted, but kept on going, his breath growing short. Another backward glance. The ball was on its way. Marcus broke into a full sprint. The old guy had an arm like a cannon!
He took to the air in a desperation dive. For an instant, the ball was right there on his fingertips. He had it. . . .
The ground swung up quickly and slammed him, and the pass bounced away. He lay there for a moment, hyperventilating and spitting out turf. The next thing he saw was the fifty-something-year-old, beaming and pulling him back to his feet.
"Way to miss everything."
"You overthrew me a little," Marcus said, defending himself.
The man plucked the ball off the grass. "You couldn't catch a cold, Mac."
"It's Marcus," he amended. "And you are . . . ?"
The old guy scowled. "Your worst nightmare if you don't quit pulling my chain."
Marcus flushed. "What should I call you?"
"Try Charlie, stupid. Heads!" He punted the ball straight up in the air.
The kick was very high, silhouetted against the cobalt blue sky, tiny and soaring.
Marcus was instantly on board, shuffling first one way and then the other as he tried to predict where it would come down. For some reason, it was very important to make this catch, especially since he'd screwed up the other one. It was his natural competitiveness, but there was something more. This Charlie character might be weird, but his enthusiasm had sucked Marcus in.
The ball plunged down, and Marcus gathered it into his arms.
Something hit him. The impact was so jarring, so unexpected, that there was barely time to register what was happening. It was Charlie...he'd rammed a rock-hard shoulder into Marcus's sternum and dropped him where he stood. The ball squirted loose, but Marcus wasn't even aware of it. He lay like a stone on the grass, ears roaring, trying to keep from throwing up his breakfast.
Gasping, he scrambled to his feet, squaring off against his companion. "What was that for?"
"I love the pop! Sometimes you actually hear it go pop!"
"That was the sound of my head coming off," Marcus muttered.
Pop. Copyright © by Gordon Korman. Reprinted by permission of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Available now wherever books are sold.Videos
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