Home-Field Advantage

by Justin Tuck, Leonardo Rodriguez (Illustrator)

Overview

Imagine the toughest, meanest-looking, strongest NFL player you can. Now imagine him growing up while being bossed around and pushed around by his five older sisters. The comical scenes are endless and Justin shows that toughness comes in all forms. Illustrations from newcomer Leonardo Rodriguez to make a picture book that appeals to a wide audience.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781442403697
Publisher:	Simon & Schuster Books For Young Readers
Publication date:	08/30/2011
Pages:	40
Product dimensions:	8.80(w) x 11.10(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	AD480L (what's this?)
Age Range:	4 - 8 Years

About the Author

Justin Tuck was born in Coosa County Alabama and went on to play for Notre Dame College. He is currently a Pro-Bowl defensive end for the New York Giants. This is his first book for children.

Leonardo Rodriguez lives and works in Barcelona. He is a contributing cartoonist for Mad magazine. Visit his blog about illustration at LeonardoRodriguez.net.

Editorial Reviews

Tuck, an NFL football star and literacy advocate, makes his children's book debut with an upbeat autobiographical tale. "When people ask me how I got to be so tough, I say, ‘You'd be tough too, if you grew up with... my five sisters!' " he writes. In brassy, caricatured watercolors, Mad magazine cartoonist Rodriguez depicts the siblings as feisty and bright-eyed—especially twins Christale and Tiffany, first seen smirking and holding a hose that they turn on Justin. Noting that the twins "especially helped me to be extra tough," the author recalls the day they dragged him outdoors to cut his hair. Rodriguez keeps readers in suspense for a bit, before revealing the boy's disastrous reverse Mohawk. Although it's a pretty thin anecdote on which to build a book, the story radiates familial warmth and cohesiveness, well before the author spells it out explicitly: "Even when they did things like this, I knew they loved me and I loved them." New York Giants fans in particular ought to get a kick out of this slice-of-life offering. Ages 4–8. (Aug.)

Publishers Weekly

PreS-Gr 2—In a conversational style, the New York Giants' defensive end tells the story of when his twin sisters, Christale and Tiffany, decide to give him a haircut. The results are eye-popping. Justin sees his mangled hair in a mirror and holes up in his room. He remains in bed until his parents return home and bawls when they pull off his blanket. The sisters admit that maybe they did go a bit too far, apologize, and assure him that they love him. He acknowledges that he knows he is loved, but also notes that over time he became less of a pushover. The plot is realistic and believable. Rodriguez's comical watercolor illustrations match well with the text. The children's exaggerated expressions capture Justin and his sisters' changing emotions. A good choice for storytimes or independent reading.—Lynn Vanca, Freelance Librarian, Akron, OH

School Library Journal

There's such a big heart to this picture-book memoir you'd have to be a drizzly-Sunday-afternoon-in-winter sourpuss not to recognize its grin potential.

Tuck, an All-Pro defensive end for the New York Giants, wasn't always a tough hombre. He was once a little kid with five sisters who knew how to put him in his place. In this tale of sibling good intentions gone awry, they administer a haircut and Tuck emerges as a rather young example of male pattern baldness, or, as his sister tells their appalled mother, "We didn't mean for it to turn out like a reverse Mohawk." It's a pleasing story, easy and enjoyable to move through—which make this book, part of a literacy project Tuck started, a boon for young sportsters who need some encouragement to read. They will appreciate the devious, heady watercolors, which display more than a touch ofMadmagazine (where Rodriguez is an illustrator). Tuck's tribulations, because of his modesty, good nature and the fact that he becomes a professional football player anyway, add to the affectionate nature of the story. This is a family that stays and pulls together; sure, your sisters may make you look like Bozo the Clown, but that doesn't mean they don't love you, or that, even if you are 6'5" and 274 pounds, they don't still dominate you.

As celebrity picture books go, this one's a sight more palatable than most.(Picture book. 4-8)

Kirkus Reviews