Crosscourt Winner

“Man, where’d you come from?” “I’ve never played in one of these things” I said. “This is my first tournament”. “Well it won’t be your last. That’s for sure.”

Book: Crosscourt Winner by Jeffrey Asher Nesbit, Victor Book, 1991

Genre: Sports/Realistic Fiction

Target Audience: Boys 12-15

Subjects: Salvation, Competition, Relationship with parents

Summary: When Cally’s dad finally gets discouraged enough after losing his job and pursues another woman, abandoning his family, Cally’s mom takes them all to live with their aunt and uncle. Here Cally has the opportunity to pursue tennis more heavily and winds up entering major tournaments. But he will be faced with many challenges along the way, including a boy in his own school that’s determined to bring him down using any means available. His mom, a strong believer, encourages him to take his burdens to Jesus but Cally isn’t yet sure he believes all that Christian stuff himself.

Notes: This story contains a number of good lessons – showing love to enemies, trusting in Jesus in hard times, and forgiving those who have hurt you. The plan of salvation is clearly discussed at one point in the book with the mom explaining to Cally why he should put his faith in Christ. There’s enough sports action to keep sport fans quite interested as well – sometimes play by play description of tennis matches.

Recommendation Scale: 5/5

Reviewer: J:-)mi

1 Corinthians 9:24 – Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize.