Question

Fiction Book Report
Name __________________________________ Date___________
Book Title___________________________________________
Author: __________________________ Illustrator: ________________
Main Characters:
Setting:
Time Period: Genre:
My favorite part:
12/16/25
kamyron norwood
Fiction Book Report
Summary:
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Would I recommend this to a friend?
YES NO
Why or why not?
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FOOTBALL
GENIUS
A NOVEL
"Will inspire anyone who's
ever been an underdog."
—Carl Hiaasen,
the house after midnight. It was wrong to take someTROY KNEW IT WAS
thing that wasn’t yours. And, even though he wasn’t
that kind of kid, that night, he was doing both.
Usually, on a night like that night, the crickets’
end-of-summer song and the moths bumping against
the window screen would put him to sleep. Usually, he
didn’t hear his mom turn off the TV in the living
room. And usually, if he was up that late, the water
groaning through the pipes while his mom ran her
bath would finish him off. But that night, worry kept
him awake. Because he really wasn’t the kind of kid
to sneak out, and especially to take something that
wasn’t his.
1
TIM GREEN
But if he did have to quietly slide open the screen,
straddle the window, and drop to the ground with a
thud, this was a good night to do it. Stars swirled
around the big yellow moon, casting shadows perfect
for hiding. Shorts and a T-shirt were all he needed to
stay warm.
He didn’t plan on having to run, but he laced his
sneakers tight in case he did. His feet fell without a
sound over the path through the pine trees. He could
smell the trees’ sticky sap, still warm from the hot
September day. An owl hooted somewhere close. A
rabbit screamed, then went quiet. The crickets
stopped, and only the buzz of mosquitoes filled the air.
Troy looked back at his house. It was nestled into
the pines, with no side or backyard. In front, there
was nothing more than a gritty patch of red clay. A
tire hung from a limb at the edge of the patch. A target for footballs. The house was more like a cabin,
a single-story box with a roof covered by fallen pine
needles.
Still, the weak orange glow from the night-light in
the bathroom window was like a friend, calling him
back. Away from the owl and the mosquitoes.
But Troy had other friends, and he dodged through
the pine trees into the darkness, finding his way to
the railroad tracks almost without looking. He stood
on the steel rail, balancing his sneakers and looking
down the long line toward the Pine Grove apartment
2
FOOTBALL GENIUS
complex, where his friends lived. He tried to whistle,
but it came out wrong. He tried again, and again,
before giving up.
“Tate?” he called, first soft, then louder. “Tate.”
A whistle came back at him from the woods, high
and clear, the way you’d call a dog. In the light of the
moon, he watched two figures climb up the stony railway bed and start walking his way on the tracks. One
of the figures was as thin as the rail she balanced on.
Tate McGreer, a pretty girl with dark eyes, olive skin,
and silky brown hair tied into a ponytail.
The other was big and burly. A twelve-year-old in
the body of a high school kid. Nathan had a buzz cut
like his dad and he liked to laugh, big belly laughs. He
wasn’t laughing now. His eyes were wide and shifting
nervously, and he was puffing. Tate was the only one
who stayed calm when they heard the low, sad sound
of the coming train.
“The Midnight Express,” Tate said, peering down
the tracks. “It wakes me up almost every night.
Atlanta to Chicago.
“Like clockwork.”
They all scrambled back down the bank into the
rocky ditch, and Tate chewed her gum and nudged
them both and asked, “You got a penny?”
“A penny?” Troy said.
Nathan dug into his pocket and came up with a
nickel.
3
TIM GREEN
“That’ll work,” she said, taking it from him and
scrambling back up the side of the railroad bed.
The ground underneath them was rumbling now.

Answer 1

Do you want me to fill out this book report for you? If so, do you want the answers based only on the excerpt you pasted, or based on the entire novel Football Genius by Tim Green?

If you want, I can:
- Fill the form now using only the excerpt (short, safe).
- Or fill it using the whole book (complete summary and details).

Tell me which and I’ll complete the report (I can use the name and date you included: Kamyron Norwood, 12/16/25).