Carl Deuker's Official Website
For more information, click a link below.
Fiction
Deception on and off the field. A football story, and much more.
Young Adult Fiction
Bigger, Faster, Stronger--that's what Mick Johnson needs to become if he's to fulfill his dream of becoming a star running back not just in high school, but in college and beyond. But how does a person keep getting bigger, stronger, and faster?
A dramatic and accurate portrayal of the game of baseball and life.
For Ryan giving up baseball now would mean getting off the most exciting ride of his life.
Baseball, the loss of a parent, the temptations, of adolescence.
Joe Faust is ashamed of only two things. First, that he goes to a private school. Second, that he sold his soul to the devil.
Mystery/Thriller
Chance knows what he's doing is risky, but it's only for a short time. Nothing can really go wrong . . . or can it?
Young Adult Fiction -- Winner of the 1993 Golden Sower Award.
A life on the brink. . . A basketball season to remember.
Short Stories
Links to book "trailer," bookstores and reviews.
Secret Garden Bookstore, Seattle.
Order from Secret Garden, an independent bookstore in my neighborhood, and you will receive an AUTOGRAPHED copy.
RUNNER
To buy Runner, please click here.
On-line booksellers
If you don't look, you don't see.
"TINY DANCER" PERFORMED BY ELTON JOHN.
THIS IS THE SONG THAT CHANCE'S PARENTS LOVED IN HAPPIER TIMES.
THIS IS THE SONG THAT CHANCE'S PARENTS LOVED IN HAPPIER TIMES.
AMAZON.COM READER RATING: 4.5 STARS
NOW AVAILABLE IN PAPERBACK (SAME COVER ART)
Nominated 2009 Grand Canyon Reader Award
Review from School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–When his alcoholic Gulf War veteran father is fired from the first steady job he has held in years, Chance Taylor is understandably glum. He has no idea where they'll get the money to pay the moorage fees for the run-down sailboat they call home. Since his parents' divorce, Chance has tried to keep a low profile in school, and his only pleasure is running by himself along the Seattle waterfront. When a marina office employee offers to pay him $250 a week to pick up occasional packages at a tree along his running route, Chance is deeply suspicious of what they may contain but desperate enough to accept this opportunity to pay the bills. As this new job gradually becomes more dangerous and more clearly illegal, Chance's father is able to rise above his personal problems to help extricate his son. In a gripping climax complete with SWAT teams swarming throughout the marina as Coast Guard patrol boats close in on terrorists, Chance is afforded a final glimpse of the heroic man his father once was. Writing in a fast-paced, action-packed, but at the same time reflective style, Deuker uses fewer sports scenes than in his previous novels, and instead uses running as a hook to entice readers into a perceptive coming-of-age novel. A subplot involving Chance's friendship with a wealthy female classmate whose father was a close high school friend of Chance's father is nicely integrated into this timely, compelling story.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
Review from School Library Journal
Grade 7 Up–When his alcoholic Gulf War veteran father is fired from the first steady job he has held in years, Chance Taylor is understandably glum. He has no idea where they'll get the money to pay the moorage fees for the run-down sailboat they call home. Since his parents' divorce, Chance has tried to keep a low profile in school, and his only pleasure is running by himself along the Seattle waterfront. When a marina office employee offers to pay him $250 a week to pick up occasional packages at a tree along his running route, Chance is deeply suspicious of what they may contain but desperate enough to accept this opportunity to pay the bills. As this new job gradually becomes more dangerous and more clearly illegal, Chance's father is able to rise above his personal problems to help extricate his son. In a gripping climax complete with SWAT teams swarming throughout the marina as Coast Guard patrol boats close in on terrorists, Chance is afforded a final glimpse of the heroic man his father once was. Writing in a fast-paced, action-packed, but at the same time reflective style, Deuker uses fewer sports scenes than in his previous novels, and instead uses running as a hook to entice readers into a perceptive coming-of-age novel. A subplot involving Chance's friendship with a wealthy female classmate whose father was a close high school friend of Chance's father is nicely integrated into this timely, compelling story.–Ginny Gustin, Sonoma County Library System, Santa Rosa, CA
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.