I read this book in 9th grade for our Holocaust Unit.
The story is of a Nazi Officer the day before D-day in a little town near the coast of Normandy. He is ordered to kill severla of the townsmen, and does. At the end of the war he is tried for war crimes and convicted. After his lengthy sentence he plays soccer on the german national team. In one game he must face the boy he taught to play soccer in that town, Varin. Varin is also the son of one of men the Nazi officer killed. The game is described greatly and brings a very human nature of crowds when faced with villianous opponents. The game is very encapsulating and takes up 50% of the novel. With the game over the conclusion must come to the book and it will sadden even the hardest of hearts to read the actions of these two men whose lives have been twisted togeher to share a single moment.

I read this book in 9th grade, during our Holocaust unit.
The story is about a Nazi officer in an occupied French town on the coast of Normandy on the day before D-day. He is ordered to kill several of the townsmen that day and does. At the conclusion of the war, he is tried for War crimes and convicted. After his sentence he plays soccer on the German national team. In the big game against France he must face the boy he taught to play soccer in that french town, the conflict comes with the fact he ordered the death of that boy's father the day before D-day. The game itself i would say is about 50% of the novel and a great descriptive of the battle between two men who lives have been twisted together through fate. The end of the novel will shock and sadden even the coldest heart. great book that is all i will say is great book. Very short, you could probably read in one night.

What to do if you are a German officer and feel compassion for the people whose town the Nazis have occupied? In this skillfully crafted novel for young teens, Tunis tells the story of a man faced with this dilemma. The climax of the story comes after an explosive soccer game. The officer, who often plays soccer with the young boys in the town, must make a momentous decision. This book effectively helped me see two sides of the war.

Ranking my favorite running books is like choosing favorite children. You love 'em all equally, right? While the Loneliness of the Long Distance Runner is a better literary achievement and Once a Runner is a more believable account of what it is like to be a runner, there is something special about Iron Duke that sets it apart. A good read for young adults and runners Iron Duke has that rare combination of great story and heart; Tunis certainly caught Lightning in a bottle with this one! But don't take my word, read for yourself.

Tis is what u call a great book. It can be really funny at times, but also very serious. Tunis' writing styles effect his book tremendously. I really enjoyed it and i can almost guarentee u will love it to.

I first read this book as an eleven year old and it made a strong impression on my young mind. Now, as a 44 year old, I thought I would reread this book to take a stroll down memory lane. I wasn't disappointed. This story of the Brooklyn Dodgers in the late 1930's is the sequel to The Kid from Tomkinsvile. The "Kid" chonicles the season that leads up to the World Series and this book disects the seven game classic against the Indians. At eleven, I cheered and cried for the heroes in the story; and at 44 I did the same. This is a wonderful book, and a great look back into time, for any young boy or girl.

In some ways, this is an even better read than "The Kid From Tomkinsville" because Tunis keeps the story within the framework of a series as opposed to two seasons in "The Kid." In "World Series" you get to see how a battered and bruised Roy Tucker handles his first postseason, although the novel also puts a lot of time in on Brooklyn manager Dave Leonard (who shows himself to be a lot more complex than in the first book). Tunis is very good at getting the feel of what baseball was like in the 1940's, and "World Series" contains perhaps his best game-situation writing of all the novels. And the banquet scene is priceless. Very much a companion piece to "The Kid," and it's well worth buying them both and reading them one after the other.

Again tunis proves he is one of the greatest writers for boys. This book was phenomenal. Tunis wrote very well. I COMPLETELY RECOMMEND THIS BOOK because it was very well written. Anyone who loves books will love this.

One of the most interesting books in the Tunis series about the Brooklyn Dodgers, "The Kid Comes Back" is very unusual in that it's not really about baseball so much as it is about courage. Roy Tucker ("The Kid From Tomkinsville") serves in the U.S. Army during the Second World War in Europe, where he suffers an injury in battle. This book deals with what he goes through in the war effort, his rehabilitation and his difficult return to major league baseball with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Tunis, who also wrote "Silence Over Dunkirk," is extremely effective at letting younger readers know what WWII was like. He also does a masterful job of painting a word picture of what it was like for veterans to come back to an America that had changed while they were gone. Of all the Tunis books, this (to me) is the best. The "gee whiz" tone of the first four books in the series is subdued, and a very strong storyline carries all the way through.

When I was in junior high, I was addicted to reading juvenile sports fiction. Shortly after beginning seventh grade, I went to the alphabetical beginning of the fiction section in the school library and began moving down the alphabet. As I went, I examined the books and read all that were sports related. In a little over two years, I had read every sports fiction book in the collection. Of all those books, the Kid From Tomkinsville was one of the most memorable.
While the background of the 1940's made the presentation difficult for someone in their early teens in the 1960’s, the descriptions of baseball more than made up for it. Roy Tucker is the title character and an excellent pitcher. However, immediately after one of his best games, he slips and cracks his pitching elbow. This finishes him as a pitcher and the main theme becomes his quest to come back as an outfielder.
He is initially very effective and believes success is assured. However, he soon begins to struggle and doubts creep in. The description of all of this is a combination of one of the best baseball stories as well as one of triumph as a combination of talent, hard work and persistence lead to his success. I still remember the scene where his manager comes to his room and tells him the problem is that he is playing for himself and not for his team.
John Tunis is one of the best writers of sports fiction that has ever lived. He makes baseball exciting, even when all the action is taking place off the field. While our society has moved on to a point quite different from the time period of the story, baseball is still a game where strategy, preparation and dedication can triumph over athletic ability. That has not changed, and the descriptions in this book will continue to keep the attention of baseball fans for decades to come.

When I was a kid in the late 60's and early 70's, I read all eight books in the J.R. Tunis series in his Dodgers series. Anyone who gets into the series MUST start with this one. Roy Tucker is an integral part in nearly all the books ("Young Razzle" being the exception), and "The Kid From Tomkinsville" introduces him along with the other characters. While some of the dialogue is of the "gee whiz" variety, the book and series are excellent. I'm so glad they were re-released, and I now have all of them. Now, I want to get a Dodgers replica jersey with the name "Tucker" above the number 34. Any kid between 9 and 90 who reads this book will know why.

I first read this book when I was 7 years old in the 1970s. I still love it to this day. The characters jump off the page and take you back to the 1940s, a different time and world.

In this book the arthur I think did very well in describing the baseball game. He really brought entertainment into the book. In the book a rookie baseball player became the general manager of a MLB team. That is very weird. One thing I really like is that the arthur put alot of problems in the team like the playeres were prejudice of a Jewish rookie.

Despite starting more slowly than the other Tunis novels I've read, the book quickly makes up for lost time Spike and Bob Russell are slick-feilding brothers who come to a Dodger team whose manager fails to inspire. Spike is apointed manager and success increases. But when Babe Stansworth, the Brooklyn catcher is injured, it falls to Jocko Klein, a young Jew, to fill in. In a world of religous bigotry Jocko cracks, making his teamates and opponents alike belive all the more that "Jews are yellow"-that he can't take it. It falls on Spike to stop this horrible stream of verbal (and physical-pitchers throw beanballs to him) attacks and make the team WORK as a team.

It's hard to believe this book was written before Jackie Robinson made his debut with the real Dodgers in 1947, because "Keystone Kids" touches on many things that were dealt with when Robinson became the first black player in the majors. Bobby and Spike Russell are a pair of middle infielders brought up from the minors to the Dodgers during the WWII era. Both encounter the usual difficulties that rookies face in the Tunis series. The difference here is another rookie, Jewish catcher Jocko Klein, who has to endure prejudice from opponents and even his own teammates. While the title of the book suggests the Russell brothers as the main characters, Jocko is the real story here. To me, this book and "The Kid Comes Back" are the two most socially relevant of the Tunis series. Any parent wishing to instill a sense of conscience in their kids could do a whole lot worse than getting them "Keystone Kids."

Go team Go is a book basically on basketball. There arent many problems throughout the book though. It is mainly about basketball and I recommend it to the people out there who enjoy books on sports. It is the best sports book ive read because I havent really read any fiction books on sports.

Along with "Schoolboy Johnson," this is the least among the eight Brooklyn Dodgers series written by John R. Tunis. Actually, there are a number of similarities between Bones Hathaway in this novel and the aforementioned Johnson: Both have great natural talent, both start out strongly before hitting the skids in midseason, both are headstrong and somewhat egotistical. In "Rookie Of The Year," however, Hathaway's comeuppance comes as a result of one the few honorable things he does during the first half of the book. One of the neat things about Tunis is that while the central figure in his stories are easily noticed by the reader, other people also play a major part. In "World Series," for instance, Brooklyn manager Dave Leonard is as important in the story as Roy Tucker; in "Keystone Kids," Jocko Klein is perhaps more important than the Russell brothers. In "Rookie Of The Year," Bones Hathaway just disappears for a stretch while manager Spike Russell assumes the spotlight. In many ways, this book is as much about Spike's coming of age as a manager as it is about Hathaway's coming of age as a man. Again, it's not the strongest in the Dodger series, but still worth a read.