Book list
From Booklist, Copyright © American Library Association. Used with permission.

Alex Myers returns in the second installment of the Triple Threat trilogy, and this time he is aiming for the hoop. After a heart-wrenching defeat in postseason play with the football team, Alex has missed the first few weeks of basketball practice and must start as a JV player. He quickly proves his worth and moves up to varsity, where he and superstar newbie Max Bellotti turn heads. But things aren't as simple off the court, as the team grumbles about older players being displaced by these young upstarts, the coach draws criticism by dating a player's mom, and the school community explodes over the news that Max is gay. In true Feinstein fashion, the game provides a reason for Alex and his teammates to put differences aside in favor of pulling together. The realistic social situations are interspersed with sports strategy, practices, and plenty of action. Alex's romance with reporter Christine provides an interesting assist to Max as he draws strength from other out athletes and publishes his story in the school newspaper. Fans will cheer for more of Alex's story as he inches closer to spring and the dugout.--Howerton, Erin Downey Copyright 2015 Booklist

Horn Book
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Alex, fresh off his dramatic football season (The Walk On), starts playing basketball and again finds himself resenting an upstart classmate. It's not until around the book's halftime that the somewhat slow story adds real tension when a teammate reveals he is gay. Series fans will enjoy the development of character relationships, as Alex tests his leadership skills off the court. (c) Copyright 2016. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus
Copyright © Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

"Triple threat" Alex Myers turns his attention from football to basketball in this middle volume (The Walk On, 2014). Alex's journey through basketball season is initially episodic. First, Alex and his teammate Jonas Ellington are forced to play junior varsity because gruff Coach Archer doesn't see football commitments as valid reasons for missing basketball practice. When they finally do join the varsity team, the boysboth freshmeneasily outplay their senior teammates, causing resentment. Meanwhile, Alex shyly courts Christine Whitford, a tenacious reporter for the school newspaper, and deals with the fallout from his parents' divorce, including a budding romance between Coach Archer and Alex's mom. When Max Bellotti, a transfer student whose own parents are divorcing, arrives midseason, the team finally has enough skilled players to be competitive. The story coalesces around Max's disclosurefirst to Alex, Jonas, and Christine, and later to the general publicthat he is gay. In contrast to older teen sports coming-out stories (Bill Konigsberg's 2008 Out of the Pocket, for example), the team stands largely united behind Max. In fact, some of Alex's retorts to nosy outsiders' questions read like a tutorial for supporting someone who is coming out. Woven into these many interpersonal story arcs are suspenseful and well-dramatized sports action scenes. Solidly drawn, both on and off the court. (Fiction. 12-18) Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.