Korman, Goran. Pop

Korman, Gordan. Pop. Baltzer & Bray, 2009 [978-0-06-174230-9]
Marcus and his mom move to a new town. He was the star quarterback in his previous town but when he shows up at his HS for tryouts at this town, he is faced with a championship team that is well-knitted together. He gets on JV. Meanwhile he start practicing at a local park where he runs into this strange middle aged guy who teaches him how to tackle and take hits. This guy is very unpredictable and eventually starts doing strange things which end up getting Marcus involved in the law. This 260 page book is such a multi-dimensional story. It great sports story that deals with moving to a new town, getting your first girlfriend, getting in trouble with the law, keeping secrets out of loyalty, and also the terrible degradation of Alzheimer's disease. The over-riding theme is serious but Korman deals with it using his wonderful sense of humor. This is a great book, right up there with his "A semester in the life of a garbage bag."