A Whole New Ballgame: A Rip and Red Book

A Whole New Ballgame: A Rip and Red Book

By Phil Bildner

14 ratings 17 reviews 7 followers
Interest LevelReading LevelReading A-ZATOSWord Count
Grades 4 - 8Grades 2 - 4n/a3.934194

Rip and Red are best friends whose fifth-grade year is nothing like what they expected. They have a crazy new tattooed teacher named Mr. Acevedo, who doesn't believe in tests or homework and who likes off-the-wall projects, the more "off" the better. They also find themselves with a new basketball coach: Mr. Acevedo! Easy-going Rip is knocked completely out of his comfort zone. And for Red, who has autism and really needs things to be exactly a certain way, the changes are even more of a struggle. But together these two make a great duo who know how to help each other―and find ways to make a difference―in the classroom and on the court.

With its energetic and authentic story and artwork, this is a fresh, fun book about school, sports, and friendship.

This title has Common Core connections.

Publisher: Square Fish
ISBN-13: 9781250079763
ISBN-10: 1250079764
Published on 7/12/2016
Binding: Paperback
Number of pages: 272

Book Reviews (19)

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Again, this is a half-recommend book because for me, it was kind of confusing. Althrough, the book was kind of mysterious and funny, since they keep getting new teachers. My personal rating for this is 3.5 or a 4.

Rip and Red are friends in the 5th grade. Rip has dreads and Red likes everything to be the same, but what they both have in common is that they both LOVE basketball. They are both in for a surprise though when a new teacher comes to their school. Mr. Acevedo has long hair wears leather bracelets and looks like the barista at Rip's mom's favorite coffee shop. With Mr. Acevedo lots of things start to change.

For a autistic kid and an easy going kid, having a new teacher and basketball coach like Mr. Acevedo, life can be hard. But with there amazing friendship, nothing is impossible.

I liked this book. Some words were a little complicated to read for me but that's ok. This book cover caught my eye, since i like to play basketball.

The title is kind of misleading. It says that it is kind of about a ballgame and is really a different story. I've seen better. The story is good, the tale is its different from what its made out to be

a the beginning you don't know which one is Red and which one is Rip but shortly after you will see some pictures and them that is the part were you really find out. Rip the one with the brown hair and Red is the one with the red hair

This book is really good! If you are a basketball fan(The Great Greene Heist by Varian Johnson) or a person who loves books about eccentric teachers(Mr. Terupt book series by Rob Buyea), you will love this book's playful combination of both. 5th graders Rip and Red already have their year planned out, and they're still walking to school! Everything changes once they have a new teacher named Mr. Acevedo, the cool tattoo-filled teacher who vows not to give homework or worksheets. Later, they find out that he's the basketball coach. For Red, he's a basketball machine who's really in it to win it. For Rip, he's amazing at free throws and has skills at basketball, but because of his visible traits of autism(traits, not completely autistic), it's best for him to play, but sit on the sidelines during games. Both boys make the team. Then, there's a huge project that Mr. Acevedo assigns that partners Rip with foul- mouthed, wheelchair- stricken Avery. In Rip's school life, Avery isn't so bad, and slowly becomes a friend. In Rip's basketball life, Clifton United hasn't won a single game. In Rip's community, parents are furious that Mr. Acevedo isn't teaching the proper fundamentals to his students, mainly test prep. In the end, everything turns out wonderful. Avery and Rip nail their project presentation and essay. Rip scores a lot of points for Clifton United against the formidable Millwood, and Red wins the last game of the season with two free throws. Mr. Acevedo work ends up helping his students receive exceedingly high scores. This school year definitely was an amazing one for Rip and Red. One reason I can really relate to this story is because I, too, have traits of autism, just not as visible's as Red's. I love how Phil Bildner creates characters that aren't like anyone else. For me, it gives a sense of reality, how there are people with disabilities who can achieve great things.

This book was ok. My brother and I read this book and he enjoyed it more than I enjoyed it. Thanks for reading my review.

I like this book!!!!!!!!!!!!