Last Chance — Max Elliot Anderson

Derek Snyder is about to begin his last year of middle school. This is the last chance he'll have to feel in charge, before beginning at the bottom of the ladder called high school. He plans to be the captain of his football team, and everyone at school pretty much did as he said. Although his teachers were allowed to call him Derek, everyone else at school had to call him Snyder. On the day he arrived for the first day of school, Derek was in for a huge surprise. He found his friends crowded around a new student. Even though Derek hated to admit it, this new guy was attractive in every way. Yet, he was not at all what he seemed to be. Through this story, we learn that Chip used to live in a large city. There, he had been involved in gangs and had even been the cause of the death of another boy. Derek is determined to push Chip off center stage; a place that only Derek rightly deserved. This story captures the nuances of junior high identity struggles. Everything Derek had imagined unravels one after the other. Plus, there is plenty of exciting football action. Readers will learn what is truly important in life as they witness the concept of a person being willing to give up his life for a friend. This story is funny, exciting, sad, and touching, all at the same time.