High-school center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace seems to have it all tural athletic ability, good grades, and a beautiful girlfriend. When a high and tight fastball crushes him "right in the face," however, his life and relationships undergo radical change. Told in free verse by a full cast of narrators who either know Luke or saw the devastating pitch, the story is a patchwork of observation, perspective, and opinion. A few characters, such as the win-at-all-cost coach and the vapid ex-girlfriend, rely on stereotype, but Luke's frustrations and fears are palpably real and believable. Although this lacks the precision of poetry, the short, terse narrative will attract reluctant readers, and Luke's nightmarish ordeal will keep them turning the pages.

More than two dozen narrators contribute their perspectives to this moving high school baseball story. After talented center fielder Luke "Wizard" Wallace is put in a coma by a star pitcher's wild throw, Luke's friends, family, teammates, and opponents weigh in on the event. Moments of genuine tension anchor Fehler's insights into sports, competition, and ambition in this deftly handled free-verse novel.

Luke "Wizard" Wallace is a high-school athlete, more than proficient in several sports. It's baseball, though, where he really shines, as a centerfielder who can make impossible catches and as a hitter who comes through in the clutch. In one horrific moment everything changes. He's hit in the face with a pitch and his eye is severely damaged. Fehler employs the voices of Luke, his family, teammates, opposing team members, coaches, friends and more to tell the story of the injury and its aftermath. Told in brief punches of free verse, each view differs in perspective and is influenced by the personality of the narrator. The opposing coach makes excuses for instructing his pitcher to brush Luke back, in spite of many wild pitches. The pitcher who threw the ball is riddled with guilt. Many staunch friends remain and new ones are discovered. The reader gets a clear picture of who these people are and how they perceive Luke. Although some of the characterizations are a bit stereotyped, each voice maintains its individuality, with all the voices combining seamlessly to tell a powerful story. In his debut novel, Fehler succeeds at every level. (Fiction. YA)

Poet and baseball enthusiast Fehler should attract a crowd with his first YA novel, related by 28 narrators in free-verse monologues. When high school star athlete Luke “Wizard” Wallace gets hit in the head by a wild pitch, he falls into a three-day coma, from which he emerges blind in one eye. The author raises the stakes for the other characters, sometimes a little too much: the rival team's pitcher hangs up his uniform (even though he's being scouted by the major leagues), infuriating his unrepentant coach (who ends up blaming Luke: “If he'd just gotten out of the way..../ he ruined our whole damn season”). Luke's selfish semi-girlfriend visits him only once (“When I saw his face.../ I thought I'd barf right there”). What makes this brief novel believable and rewarding are Fehler's clear grasp of the dedicated athlete's mind and his ability to imagine what it feels like to be suddenly and seemingly permanently sidelined. Fehler does an excellent job in pacing his shifts of perspective, and the central story, of Luke's friendships and eventual recovery, comes through with drama and clarity. Ages 12-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Feb.)

Gr 5-9 A high school athlete is seriously injured by a wild pitch, and he, his family and friends, teachers, coaches, and eyewitnesses share their reactions and feelings about the incident in free-verse monologues. Luke "Wizard" Wallace is a determined, talented player, and a leader on the field and off. Then, in a game versus their archrivals, he leans into a fastball thrown by Kyle Dawkins and is hit by a pitch that leaves him blind in one eye. This plot-driven, brief novel is a page-turner, though its protagonist and supporting characters are one-dimensional. Most are defined chiefly by their relation to Luke: the sympathetic coach; the "win at all costs" coach; his loyal friends and family. Fehler's straightforward story may appeal to die-hard sports fans, but Scott Johnson's Safe at Second (Philomel, 1999) and Carl Deuker's High Heat (Houghton, 2003), two novels that also deal with sports accidents and their aftermath, offer both compelling story lines and memorable characters. Marilyn Taniguchi, Beverly Hills Public Library, CA

The sound of the wild pitch connecting with the batter's face was the worst sound the umpire had ever heard. Luke "Wizard" Wallace was a natural athlete, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball. Pro scouts saw a future in major league baseball for the high school junior, but everything is jeopardized with the one pitch. Luke's skull is shattered and the vision in one eye destroyed. Luke and his family and friends are left wondering whether he can cope with a life that probably will not include sports. The author uses several voices to tell the story of the fateful game and subsequent events, including Luke's recovery. The major voices belong to Luke; his best friend, Andy; Luke's coach; the pitcher who threw the bean ball; and Sarah, Luke's classmate who sees beyond his status as a star athlete and becomes a major player in his recovery. Other team members and classmates flesh out the story. At first, the multiple voices might have the reader flipping back to the list of characters supplied at the start of the book, but each voice soon becomes unique and easily identifiable. Teen readers will find it effortless to like Luke and root for his recovery and his blossoming relationship with Sarah. The story is well paced, quite satisfying, and will appeal to the reluctant reader.-Debbie Clifford.