"He wanted to see himself as a victim, but it was getting harder all the time."When Coley was a kid, his brother, Patrick, showed him how to "plunk" the life-size statue of Reggie Jackson that stands in the Burkes' backyard. If you nail the statue with a baseball in just the right place, it makes a loud gonging sound. It takes "mental toughness" -- a concept that Patrick mastered but that Coley is still trying to learn.
Now Patrick is dead, killed in a drunken boating accident, and Coley is struggling to live up to their father's idealized memory of him. Like Patrick, Coley is a star high school pitcher destined for the major leagues. But an ankle injury has sidelined him for most of the season. He's flunking English and could go ineligible for the play-offs. And he's started dating Bree Madison, a gorgeous sophomore whose mysterious past is causing Coley more problems every day.
When the pressures become more than Coley can handle, he and Bree run off to Florida. There, along the crystal waters of the Gulf of Mexico, Coley tries to get his mind right and understand what "mental toughness" really means.
The master of sports fiction for teenagers, James W. Bennett weaves a powerful story of memories, relationships, and high school baseball in this stunningly realistic novel.
What do You think about Plunking Reggie Jackson (2001)?
