Hardcourt Comeback

By Fred Bowen

Brett Carter is a hotshot on his basketball team, the Wildcats—or at least he was. After missing an easy layup shot at the buzzer in an important game, he feels like a total loser.
But things get worse. At his best friend’s birthday party at a rock climbing center, Brett freezes on the wall. Then he blows an easy question in the American history bee at school. He is losing his confidence fast, both on and off the court—and the championship game is coming up.
Can Brett overcome his fears and play like a “winner” again?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Peachtree Publishers
• Release date: Sep 10, 2013
• ISBN: 9781480442993

Fred Bowen

Fred Bowen was born in Marblehead, Massachusetts, a seaside town north of Boston. Most of his family still lives there—he has four big brothers and two sisters. His dad loved sports. One of Bowen’s earliest memories is watching the 1957 World Series on TV with his dad and his brothers. Bowen’s dad was his Little League coach and his brothers were his teammates in backyard football and “driveway basketball.” When Bowen turned eighteen, he left behind his sports-happy childhood and headed to the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. Bowen has always loved US and world history and he made history his major in college. Bowen also loves sports history because of all the great dramas and big personalities, which is why he weaves real sports history into all of his stories. After he graduated from the University of Pennsylvania, he went to George Washington Law School in Washington, DC. Shortly after he graduated, he met Peggy Jackson, a journalist. They got married two years later and now have two grown children. Their son is a college baseball coach and their daughter works for a nonprofit in Chicago. When they were in elementary school, Bowen coached their baseball, basketball, and soccer teams—more than thirty teams in all. Bowen was a lawyer for many years and retired from practicing law so that he could write for kids full time. He gets to spend a lot more time writing and he gets more time to visit schools and talk with kids about his books. He also speaks at a lot more conferences and meets more cool teachers and librarians.