Team Picture

By Dean Hughes

Book Overview

An action-packed, thought-provoking sequel to Hughes' Family Pose. David is now living with Paul, the bellman who found him hiding in a hotel, and finds that trust in his new life is not so easy. As the star pitcher on his baseball team, David dreams of pitching the perfect perfect game and coming home to the perfect family--especially now that Paul seems to be lapsing back into the abusive drinking that has ruined his life before.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 068931924X
• ISBN13: 9780689319242
• Release Date: October 1996
• Publisher: Atheneum Books
• Length: 160 Pages
• Weight: 0.75 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.8" x 5.8" x 8.6"
• Age Range: 8 to 12 years
• Grade Range: Grades 3 to 7

Customer Reviews

Cliche-free sports literature

A pitcher is the player on the diamond with the most control over the outcome of the game. As the old axiom goes, Good pitching beats good hitting. But you won't find such cliches in Dean Hughes's excellent novel for readers ages 9-12, Team Picture. The hero is a young orphan who learns that, on the field, one cannot strike out all twenty-seven batters; even the best pitchers need help from the fielders behind them. In life, too, David Lambert learns that for socialization, even mental health, he must relinquish control, let himself be vulnerable.Carefully avoiding cliches of plot--you won't find in this book any grand slams in the bottom of the ninth--and language--no "the tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife"--Hughes has written an authentic and poignant book.

THE TEAM (Get the picture)

Hi, my name is Marcus Hunter and I read the book Team Picture. I think that this was a really good book because it kind of expresses the true meaning of friendship. This book is about about a boy named David. David is unusual from most kids because he is not as social as he should be. The reason that may be is because when David was younger his parents and siblings where killed in a car accident. David was soon taken into foster care. He was being shifted from place to place because all of the foster parents that he was with found out that they didn't really like him. David soon grew tired of all this moving around and ran away to a hotel. He was soon discovered hiding behind a soda machine by a guy named Paul. For a little while Paul and his co-workers all worked together to keep David a secret but the truth came out. David was then placed with Paul temporarily. Before Paul had benn taking care of David he had a drinking problem. But since David had been with Paul Paul stopped drinking. He slipped a few times but he was basically done with drinking. David and Paul had a kind of unusual relationship because they never really talked much. But Paul had always been there for David. He provided for him and went to all of his baseball games. And David was a great pitcher. He praticed everyday and dreamed that someday he would be in the majors. He never really hung out with the team and always pretty much kept to himself. He always liked to imagine that he would strike out every single batter. One day during a baseball game one of David's teammates messes up, and David yells at him. after that the rest of the team started to give David the cold shoulder. This whole situation was not good because they had their most important game of the season coming up. David has to make things right between him and the rest of the team so that they can play as a team again. Along the way David meets a new friend and reunites with an old friend. If you want to know if David can patch up his realationship with the team in time for the big game then you're going to have to read the book Team Picture.