Susan Hepler, Ph.D. (Children's Literature)
Steven Thomas from Pennsylvania and Susan Carol Anderson from North Carolina have won a fourteen-and-under writing contest and have press credentials to get into the NCAA basketball “Final Four” games in New Orleans. There, they overhear a conversation concerning the (fictional) Minnesota State U’s star player’s throwing the game which starts the two investigating. Feinstein’s insider view of this famous college basketball event has enough details to satisfy any fan: where players stay, how the press functions, what student athletes say to the cameras, and how the floor of the arena is cordoned off. He even works in plenty of real people in the media. from the motor-mouth Dick Vitale and the ever-generous Coach K (Mike Krzyzewski) to his colleagues on the Washington Post, especially Tony Kornheiser who comes in for some gentle ribbing. Readers will enjoy the way Stevie and Susan Carol work together as equals to solve the mystery which hangs on some changed college grades that would make the star player ineligible and all games won by MSU to be forfeited. Teachers will appreciate the way Feinstein works in the details of the sports writers’ (and Stevie and Susan Carol’s) job: checking sources, or working-in local color, interviews, or themselves into the daily dispatches they must write. It is a quick read that the already-initiated will grab and mystery lovers neutral to sports will enjoy, too. It is the first in “The Final Four Mystery” series and sportswriter Feinstein’s very credible entry into children’s books. 2005, Knopf, $16.95. Ages 9 to 14.

Sue Corbett (Miami Herald) (Children's Literature)
Here’s the perfect off-the-court book for any young hoops fan: Last Shot, a nifty mystery by sportswriter John Feinstein, set at the Final Four. Two eighth-graders, Stevie, a rabid Big East fan from Philly, and Susan Carol, a southern belle whose loyalties lie with Duke, have won a reporting contest sponsored by the U.S. Basketball Writers Association. Grand prize: An all-expense paid trip to the Final Four and--most importantly--a press pass to cover the last weekend of the NCAA tournament. Their assignment to write feature stories for small newspapers is benched when they overhear a conversation which strongly suggests one star player is being blackmailed to throw the final game. Hmm. Should they tell the adult reporters who’ve been assigned to chaperone them or investigate it themselves? Well, that’s a slam dunk. But as they work to unravel the scheme before the final buzzer sounds, the personal stakes--and the tension--get very high. Mystery fans will appreciate this as much as basketball fans as the court action, which is finely written, is kept to a minimum. In fact, this story is as much about the Big Business--and corruption--of college sports as it is about hoops. Feinstein, a Washington Post reporter and a Duke graduate himself, gets in jabs at the NCAA, TV reporters, athletic apparel companies--he even pokes fun at his real-life counterparts like Dick Vitale and Post sportswriter Tony Kornheiser, who Stevie is awed about meeting. And while Feinstein’s expertise smoothes out some of the plot’s implausible moments, I wish he hadn’t made his cub reporters such accomplished liars. (Or have them enter a hotel room without permission in search of info. Ouch.) Kids, no reporter who wanted to stay employed would do those things. 2005, Knopf/Random House, $16.95. Ages 9 up.

Kirkus (Kirkus Reviews, January 1, 2005 (Vol. 73, No. 1))
When Stevie Thomas wins a sports writing contest and gets to cover the Final Four college basketball championship in New Orleans, he knows it's going to be the most unbelievable weekend of his life. And unbelievable it is, but in unexpected ways. Amidst the circus atmosphere at the Superdome-with the Blue Devils, Huskies, Coach K, Dick Vitale, and the clamor of hawkers, scalpers, and the best sportswriters in America-Stevie and his co-winner Susan Carol overhear a plot to throw the championship game. Veteran sportswriter Feinstein uses simple prose, lively dialogue, and authentic details of an event he knows well to recreate the pageantry of college basketball's big show. No little-guy-overcoming-the-odds story, this is a tale of celebrity, big business, and corruption as witnessed by two eager and innocent fledgling reporters who must decide what to do with their unexpected knowledge. A real treat for basketball fans young and old. 2005, Knopf, 256p, $16.95. Category: Fiction. Ages 10 up. © 2005 Kirkus Reviews/VNU eMedia, Inc. All rights reserved.

Ruth Cox Clark (Library Media Connection, April/May 2005)
Eighth graders Stevie and Susan, winners of the U.S. Basketball Writer's Association's 14-and-under writing contest, discover a blackmail scheme for Minnesota State to throw the final championship game with Duke. Although the mystery is well plotted, the pace of the story gets bogged down in the descriptive details about the sportscasters at the Final Four. The average reader may not be quite so enthralled with the minutiae. Recommend it to readers who love basketball and they may then seek out John Feinstein's adult sports titles, a number of which are basketball related. Additional Selection. 2005, Alfred A. Knopf (Random House), 256pp., $16.95 hc. Ages 11 to 16.

Elizabeth Bush (The Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books, March 2005 (Vol. 58, No. 7))
Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, eighth graders with their sights set on careers in journalism, have landed awards from the U.S. Basketball Writers Association and a trip to the college Final Four playoffs in New Orleans. Being squired around by professional sports reporters, garnering intros to broadcasters and coaches, and reporting under their own bylines should be enough excitement, but an overheard conversation between a dark-suited man and the University of Minnesota's star player, Chip Graber, launches them into an investigation of blackmail and game-fixing. The mystery plot, which involves doctored transcripts that would negate Chip's (and hence, his team's) eligibility, is convincing, and Stevie and Susan Carol make a well-balanced, likable team, alternately wielding their legitimate press passes and laying on the dumb-kid act to elbow their way into heavily guarded hotels and crack open caches of private information. The real fun, though, is sports journalist Feinstein's thorough knowledge of the backstory to the playoffs, as he takes readers on a tour of the commercial side of college basketball where there's big money to be made on the moves of "student athletes." There's name dropping aplenty as fictional characters rub shoulders with real-life coaches, journalists, and pundits galore, and college game fans, who are generally underserved by children's authors, should find this the next best thing to an all-access pass. Review Code: R -- Recommended. (c) Copyright 2005, The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois. 2005, Knopf, 251p, $18.99 and $16.95. Grades 5-8.

Horn Book (The Horn Book Guide, Fall 2005)
As winners of a writing contest, eighth-graders Steven Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson travel to the NCAA Final Four as journalists. In addition to meeting college basketball celebrities, the two also uncover a plot to fix the championship game. As the fast-moving mystery takes off, the book becomes the reader's own press pass to a behind-the-scenes look at the Final Four. Category: Intermediate Fiction. 2005, Knopf, 251pp, 16.95, 18.99. Ages 9 to 12. Rating: 3: Recommended, satisfactory in style, content, and/or illustration.

Donna Bode (The Lorgnette - Heart of Texas Reviews, (Vol. 18, No. 2))
Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson enter a writing contest and win a trip to cover the college Final Four Tournament in New Orleans. They uncover a plot for Minnesota State to throw the game to Duke, and they have just 48 hours to stop the blackmailer. Basketball fans will love this book with insider’s knowledge of the college tournament. Fiction. Grades 9-12. 2005, Knopf, 251p., $16.95. Ages 14 to 18.

Rollie Welch (VOYA, February 2005 (Vol. 27, No. 6))
Eighth-grade winners of a national writing contest, Stevie Thomas and Susan Carol Anderson, become all-access teen reporters to the NCAA Final Four basketball tournament held in New Orleans. After mingling with sportswriters, television personality Dick Vitale (awesome, baby!), and legendary Duke Coach Mike Krzyzewski, the wide-eyed teens wander about the massive Superdome. Outside the Minnesota State team locker room, they overhear a grey-haired man tell star Chip Graber to make sure he chokes against Duke or else. Horrified that the future NBA player is being forced to throw the championship game, the intrepid teens spring to action. Using their wits and circumventing NCAA rules (refreshingly, Susan Carol knows her hoops and is an assertive leader), the cub reporters bypass security and confront Chip, offering to help him escape the blackmail plot. As a web of betrayal is unraveled, the trio realizes no one can be trusted, and even Chip is unsure who is actually pulling the strings about his illegal transcripts and who will cash in after the fix. This sports journalist's first young adult novel is set for publication just before March Madness 2005, the story's fast-moving pace will please basketball junkies. Mature readers might not buy into self-assured thirteen-year-olds pulling off brazen schemes, but how the teens outwit bumbling authority figures will appeal to the middle school crowd. Many red herrings and a vast array of adult characters popping up throughout the story perhaps makes this mystery too intricate for reluctant readers, but the insider's view Final Four basketball atmosphere is, well . . . awesome, baby! VOYA CODES: 3Q 3P M J (Readable without serious defects; Will appeal with pushing; Middle School, defined as grades 6 to 8; Junior High, defined as grades 7 to 9). 2005, Knopf, 256p., $16.95 and PLB $18.99. Ages 11 to 15.