Unlike many sports novels, Bull Catcher does more than pump  up its readers for a do-or-die game.... Carter takes a deeper  look at sports, competition, and what it takes to succeed." --Booklist

The reader not only follows Bull's development as a catcher, but also his passage through adolescence to the threshold of adulthood...as this tight-knit band of small-town guys pursues  a superheated rivalry with top-ranked Caledonia. No matter  that [best friend] Jeff has the stuff to reach the next level  while Bull must accept that he's just too slow...it's enough that Bull carries the memory of a coveted championship and "Jeff  and me, impatient even in November for April and the first  pitch of a new season." --Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books

"Baseball players and fans will especially appreciate Carter's skillful description of key plays in a half dozen games....  Readers and critics who have given Carter high marks for characterization in the past, especially for Sheila's Dying and Dogwolf, will find much to praise in this book as well." --SIGNAL Journal

"Carter pens a sure hit for baseball fans as plenty of riveting game action is detailed.... All in all, this is a gentle coming-of-age story that...results in an enjoyable read."  --School Library Journal 

When I taught English, I was always looking for good books about high school sports. And I was at a loss.... Recent years, though, have brought an increase in teenage sports stories and Alden Carter's Bull Catcher is a worthy addition... Carter  traces a boy's growth from baseball fanaticism to athletic  wisdom in a gritty story of teenage love and loss. Ah, at last,  I found my sports book." --ALAN Review

"Beginning with spring training in the ninth grade and culminating with a monumental game at the end of his senior year, this engaging novel charts the development of Neil Larsen, Bull, as both a baseball player and a young man. Nicknamed for his stocky build and hard-nosed attitude on the field, Bull is devoted to baseball. And the author clearly  knows the game, too. Its dynamics, as played on the high  school level, are perfectly delineated.... Baseball fans will  relish the exciting game descriptions and the evocation a team maturing over a four-year span of big wins and tough losses.  Not all  of life's ups and downs occur on a baseball diamond, however, and the  novel is elevated by its unblinking portrayal of Bull's personal travails off  the field. Baseball fans  certainly will enjoy this, and I hope fans of quality writing  will step up to the plate, as well." --VOYA [rated 5Q "Hard  to imagine it being better written"]

"I admit it, I'm not a baseball fan. I've never understood the thrill of watching a bunch of guys try to hit or catch a little leather-covered ball. This book, however, fascinated me. It all starts with Neil "Bull" Larsen and his friend Jeff. As long as Bull can remember, he and Jeff have planned to get to the majors. They've played in the summer leagues, they've played in the school intermurals, they've practiced long into the winter when everyone else has given up and gone home. Now the two of them are in high school, and they've got a chance to show what they can do--both of them are trying to get athletic scholarships into college. Bull has to overcome his one fatal weakness as a catcher. Jeff has to learn that he isn't the coach of the team--and if he can't figure out how to work with the high school coach he won't be playing the game after all. There are other complications as well...a star pitcher who doesn't want to pitch, a player who's getting injured off the field, betrayals, defeats, and a broken nose. After all their work, life shouldn't be so difficult! Both Bull and Jeff have major challenges to face before graduation, and they'll have to decide if the sacrifices they made were worth it after all. --Giant Steps Books 

You met him in the pages of Scholastic Scope and Join In.  Now learn the full story of Neil "the Bull" Larsen and the  funny, tough, and unforgettable baseball players of Shipley High: Captain Jock, Phuong the Tiger, Crazy Billy, Big Mike, Lord Parkenham, Knuckleball Sally, and Bull's nemesis,  the Mule.  

So begins Bull Catcher, Alden Carter's novel featuring characters from his short story "No Win Phuong" in 
the popular multi-ethnic anthology Join In and his story "Bull Catcher" in Scholastic Scope. Bull Catcher takes readers into the competitive world of high  school baseball with a compelling story that resonates far beyond the playing field. For Bull Catcher is far more than a "jock" book, but a sensitive novel of ambition and disillusionment, love and heartbreak, friendship and family, and a young man's tumultuous coming of age. 

Scholastic Press $15.95 (ISBN: 0-590-50958-6) Paperback $4.99 (ISBN 0-590-50959-4)

Bull Catcher has reached the end of its initial publishing cycle. The author has a limited number of copies for sale to libraries. Contact him at <acarterwriter@tznet.com>.