(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. After football (End Zone) and basketball (Jump Shot), Tiki and Ronde want to try baseball before junior high graduation. Never having played before, the twins find themselves struggling with their new sport. Their positive attitudes help them through, as the themes of teamwork and hard work are explored again in this latest book by the NFL stars, which suffers from awkward dialogue.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. After a championship football season (End Zone), Tiki and Ronde are recruited for the unsuccessful junior-high basketball team. As the star player's family drama spills onto the court, the twins, with help from Tiki's advice column, teach "Sugar" that caring for each team member shows true leadership. Despite the self-righteous storytelling, the sports action keeps things moving.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. In their final junior-high season, identical twins Tiki and Ronde dream of winning the championship, but overconfident teammates and a quarterback with a concussion threaten their success. Meanwhile, the twins' mom, who works two jobs to support them, stresses the importance of schoolwork. Awkward dialogue hampers the NFL players' sixth book, which, as usual, is packed with game details.

Reviewer: Nancy Hull

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. As ninth grade begins for the Barber twins, Tiki feels overwhelmed by his responsibilities with the football team, his studies, and his new job as advice columnist for the school paper. Luckily, Ronde steps up to help . Play-by-play game details and overt life lessons continue in this fifth entry from the NFL stars. Glos.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. Excitement reigns at Hidden Valley Junior High with the football team's state championship game approaching. In their fourth book, ninth-grade twins Tiki and Ronde are playing their best until chicken pox sidelines them. Despite the heavily laid-on message about teamwork making victory possible, the story will appeal to sports enthusiasts and fans of the real-life NFL brothers.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. In their third story, twins Ronde and Tiki's eighth-grade football season looks bright--until their team's star kicker is placed on academic probation. Despite the Eagles' struggles, the team makes the playoffs, and the siblings (and future NFL stars) learn valuable lessons about overcoming obstacles. Young football fans will find the story appealing, despite some stilted dialogue.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. This sequel to Kickoff! finds eighth graders Tiki and Ronde playing on their middle-school football team. The dialogue doesn't always ring true ("Yo, gentlemen!... What's shakin'?"), but the team's challenges are realistic, including the departure of a beloved coach. Loosely based on the NFL stars' childhoods, the Barber twins' story emphasizes the importance of teamwork and a positive attitude.

Reviewer: Carrie Harasimowicz Sullivan

(4) 4-6 With Paul Mantell. After collaborating on three semi-autobiographical picture books, the Barbers try their hands at a novel, in which young Tiki and Ronde are nervous about starting junior high. Football tryouts and competition are central to the story; a subplot involving community action widens its appeal. There's some awkward dialogue, but the twins offer strong modeling of sportsmanship and perseverance. Glos.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Root. This third book about perseverance and teamwork by twin NFL players focuses on young Tiki's struggles with ball carrying. Tiki's improved skill, honed by extra practice time with Ronde, is on full display during a winning play against their archrivals. The golden tones of the watercolor and gouache paintings nicely reflect football season, but their composition is stiff.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute

(4) K-3 Illustrated by Barry Root. NFL stars (and twins) Tiki and Ronde relate an incident from their childhood. The sports-minded brothers had always been inseparable, so when Tiki seriously injures his knee in a bike accident, Ronde encourages him through his recuperation and his return to football in September. The story rambles, but the pictures are saturated with hues as sunny as the story's sentiments.

Reviewer: Carolyn Shute