Fourth Down Showdown Chip Hilton #13

The Chip Hilton sports series is one of the most enjoyable and influential series of juvenile sports books ever written. The series follows Chip and his circle of friends from high school through college. They involve excellence in sports, loyalty among friends, a belief in academic success and being actively involved in the community. Like other lengthy series of juvenile fiction books, they have also been adapted for the times; new things such as the Internet and e-mail are incorporated into the later issues. The historical backdrop for this book is that Chip and his friends are sophomores at State University and it is the football season. Although the team has some tested veterans, the coach decides to bench them in favor of Chip's group. At first, Chip's play calling at quarterback is too conservative and he is benched. When the other quarterback is injured, Chip comes back in and leads his team to victory, the first step into a very successful season. Chip and his friends also work and this puts them into contact with some of the community problems. Chip becomes involved in the lives of some local boys that are trying to make something of themselves, although the boys are under great psychological and physical pressure not to. Chip intervenes when the leaders of the juvenile gang beat up the boys that Chip is trying to help, which causes problems as it leads Chip and his group to break a team curfew rule. Fortunately, at the last minute the people that Chip aided come to his defense and Chip and his group are able to play in the big game. While juvenile fiction books are formulaic in that the main characters have difficulties to overcome on their way to victory in the "big game at the end", the best ones are so well written that foreknowledge of this fact does not diminish the joy of the journey. This is one of those books where the path from the first to the last page remains interesting and exciting.