Soar by Joan Bauer

Soar Reviews

• 
  Jan

  I think it's theoretically impossible for me to not love anything that Joan Bauer writes, because I do love everything.
  
  Jeremiah has had some tough obstacles in his life to overcome, but he's shown true courage in the face of adversity. When tragedy and scandal tears the high school baseball team apart and threatens to turn the town against the game they all loved and cheered for, Jeremiah steps in to put together a team at his middle school. He's the kind of kid you all want on your team, or in this case, coaching your team. Jeremiah can't play anymore or do any sports since his heart transplant. But that doesn't stop him from helping to keep the dream alive for others who want to play. Not only does he love the game more than anything else, he knows how to inspire everyone around him and get the very best from them. He teaches them how to play from their hearts, to give it their all, and to become like the eagles they are (their team name) and soar. I'm not a baseball fan at all, but Jeremiah's love and enthusiasm for the game almost made me want to go watch my local high school team play.
  
  
• 
  Annette

  SOAR by Joan Bauer tells the powerful story of a heart transplant survivor who becomes an amazing baseball coach.
  
  Although Jeremiah isn’t allowed to run because of his heart transplant, he hasn’t given up his baseball dreams. Instead, he decides to turn his middle school baseball team into champions. Along the way, he connects with a neighbor and brings a town alive.
  
  Librarians will find this heart-warming story to be a great addition to the library’s realistic fiction collection. Books about sports are always popular with boys, but this title crosses boundaries and its likely to inspire a wide range of readers. The focus on coaching rather than playing baseball provides a unique perspective. The robotics, steroids, and adoption subplots provide a bonus that will appeal to some youth.
  
  Keep in mind that this title also fits well with the growing number of books exploring ways youth are overcoming disabilities.
  
  To learn more about the author, go to
  http://joanbauer.com/.
  
  Published by Viking Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Penguin. ARC courtesy of the publisher.
• 
  Ryan C

  I loved how Jeremiah wanted to coach since he couldn't play ball
  
  
• 
  Amy

  I listened to this on audiobook while I was driving. I mention that because my reading comprehension from audiobooks is at about a 5-6th grade reading level. I find myself as an audiobook listener doing all the things that growing readers do: I ignore all but major plot points, I don't read for character and voice, etc.
  
  that said, this is what I didn't like about Soar:
  1. A lot of adult characters I had a hard time keeping track of and few of them significant to the story
  2. brief mentions of interesting and intense issues (manslaughter, steroid use) that could have been way more central to the story
  3. a main character who was wayyyy too good-natured to be realistic or relatable
  4. and, I don't know, a whole whole-grain oats feel to this book about how winning isn't everything. and then you undermine your message a bit when your characters win a game and feel victorious.
  
  I just like my characters a lot more flawed and my endings more bittersweet.
• 
  Mari

  Loved it. Joan Bauer is a master of creating quirky, loveable, awesome characters. I'll look forward to bringing this out to our elementary schools!
• 
  Laela

  This book may be getting an extra star because it is a Baseball book. Maybe.
  
  This book has a lot a of great stuff in it. Like the fact that Jeremiah is a adopted; AND Jeremiah loves baseball, eagles, and robots. He is a complete kid. You know how sometimes kids in books are all one way (he is a jock, or a nerd, or a princess...) this book does not suffer from that. Jeremiah has had a heart transplant, but while that is part of the story that is not the complete story. There are so many little bits that make up the complete story it is hard to know where to start.
  
  When listening to this book it made me long for the baseball season to start. Jeremiah makes me love baseball even more than I already do. It doesn't hurt that he was rooting for the Cincinnati Reds even though he was from St. Louis. Also I like the Jeremiah loves the game just for the game. He can never play it, but that isn't going to stop him from making baseball a part of his life.
  
  Middle School book for content. There are also a special needs kids in here, steroid use, murder, and grown-ups being jerks.
  
  
• 
  Linda

  Joan Bauer is one of my very favorite authors and she hasn't disappointed fans with her newest book. In a blend of realistic fiction driven by a strong baseball storyline, Bauer tells the story of Jeremiah, a young man who has faced a great deal of hardships in his short life. Abandoned by his mother when he was an infant and adopted by Walt, a single computer engineer who found him, Jeremiah finds a loving home with Walt but when he gets virus that attacks his heart, he finds himself near death and needing a heart transplant. As he and Walt wait for a new heart, their love of baseball sustains them. Jeremiah receives a new heart and faces the ups and downs of being a transplant recipient. When he and Walt move to a new town, that is obsessed with baseball, Jeremiah finds things aren't as they seem. Will Jeremiah and his positive attitude help this town heal from a major breech of trust?
• 
  Karen

  I enjoyed this uplifting story full of quirky funny characters, positive messages and a 12 year old boy who despite everything he has suffered, refuses to let his challenges rule his life. The story touches on many topics like adoption, abandonment, medical issues, friendship, and most especially baseball. Jeremiah is an extremely intelligent young man who sees life as a gift and inspires others to see themselves as who they can become. I loved all the characters and the small town atmosphere that allowed the story to be told in a more intimate setting. Jeremiah is my new hero that proves one person with an understanding heart can truly make a difference.
• 
  Bethe

  This hockey fan adores this baseball book. You will fall in love with Jeremiah! All kinds of heart! Fave lines: pg 281 "anyone want to tell me that baseball doesn't matter?" pg 291 "there's no Jell-O in baseball!" I also noticed a line from the hockey movie "Miracle on Ice" in Jer's coach speech! Don't need to love sports to love this book.
• 
  Debbie Means

  I listened to the audiobook and enjoyed it. There is lots to love about this story. It's about a boy who survived many difficulties through his young life but came through with an incredible positive attitude and a determination that is incomparable. Many lessons can be learned from his passion, his drive and his outlook on life. It is a good read.
• 
  Nevaeh

  I really like that Jeremiah overcame his challenges/setbacks and ended up pushing through it. I enjoyed that even when he couldn't play baseball anymore he didn't give up, he put his heart and soul into the game, which showed some really strength. I recommend this book even if you don't play baseball.
• 
  Maria Caplin

  Love summer and baseball then this is a perfect combo. The unique relationship of father and son was perfect in their own unique ways. Can't wait to recommend to next year's Newberry Club. #bookadsy
• 
  Mary Vanpatten

  The main character has two obstacles that he lives with, his mother leaving him with a tech guy and a heart transplant. With the love of baseball he finds friendship, and a love for living.
• 
  Shannon

  I liked the plot but the main character seemed way too mature and insightful for a real kid.
• 
  Brooke Beeson-King

  This book gives you all sorts of feel-good goosebumps. Even though I am not a baseball fan, I enjoyed the story of the relationships. Jeremiah is a person I would want to know.
• 
  Julie Suzanne

  For me it was just okay, but it's a pretty good book. For those who just want to know how their kids are going to like it, here's what you can expect:
  --an uplifting, feel-good story
  --positivity galore
  --people overcoming adversity and personal challenges
  --digestible symbolism and metaphor, perfect for an ELA classroom, grades 4-6
  --a loveable protagonist, a worthy role model (in the eyes of adults everywhere)
  --baseball worship. It's almost all baseball, so sports fans will love it
  
  There you go! Great book for kids!
  
  Now for my (adult) experience:
  It was a bit cheesy, way too positive, way too much baseball, the protagonist was an adult but they say he was 12--he MUST have been, like, 60 and sent back to live middle school all over again, even though that wasn't mentioned in the story, and it felt a little cliche. Seriously, Jeremiah was wiser than ME at age 40. Also, the happily-ever-after ending seemed totally unnecessary, and the overcoming-personal-challenges-by-staying-positive theme was way underdeveloped, yet apparently was the whole point. For example, this Pollyanna boy, we are told, had a heart transplant and his life has been hard. So we're told. But we see none of that. The narrator does mention that he gets really sick but in the same tone as when he's giving one of his many wise-beyond-his-years inspirational speeches that everyone takes to heart and uses as an impetus for personal change (immediately). This 12-year-old loves everything about his life, embraces all change as a new adventure, thinks his single dad is the best human being ever and never takes him or anything for granted EVER, etc. Yay! An uplifting novel, but not anything an adult needs to read (except maybe with their child).
  
  I have now listened to too many audiobooks, and this may have colored my opinion of the book. At first, I thought, "Hey! This is Simon (of
  Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda)! And then, when Walt or the coach was speaking, I was thinking, "Hey! That's the DA in
  All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook." Sure enough, the narrator read both of those books, too, and I've had enough of him! He only has a few voices to his repertoire, and I can't handle having all these characters from other books merging together when I'm listening to a new one. ::sigh:: This is a new problem, and I don't know what to do about it except to take an extended break from this particular narrator.
  
  Overall, I can say that this is probably one of those excellent books upon which accolades are poured, and it has many valuable qualities including nuggets of wisdom, some tear-jerking cheese, and positivity and plot elements that one would call heartwarming. It may have even warmed my heart at times (and I know I teared up quite a bit, but I cry just as easily if I hear a few measures of perfect harmony). Soar just didn't do enough for this adult reader to make it worthy of remembering years from now.
• 
  Serina

  Adopted sick boy coaches baseball. Jeremiah is a wholesome, go getter and has a natural buoyancy for life. He is limited by his weak beart but doesn't let that get him down and decides to coach baseball for the school in the new city they move to. The first 100 pages drag on, but then there is scandal of coach perphas giving kids PEDs. So then people start to dislike the fact of them playing baseball. It seems a bit strange that middle school would have this problem, seems more like a college maybe high school issue. The problems with steroid issue is glossed over. They also use an autistic kid for help with the stats, but he seems more like a prop than an actual character. The main character seemed very plastic and lacked depth. I love Joan Bauer as an author, but this one didn't click for me. "A long pitch home" by Natalie Dias Lorenzi was much more interesting and age appropriate for me.
  
  
• 
  Amy-Jo Conant

  GRL - T
  510L
  Grade Level 4
  
  This book has an eternally optimistic main character who has a passion for life and specifically baseball. This book is great for boys and girls. I am no baseball fan but had plenty of fun listening to this audio book version. Book clubs will find plenty of things to talk about.
  
  ****Possible spoilers ahead*****
  
  perseverance
  adoption - what makes a family - abandonment
  physical challenges - heart transplant
  friends with special needs
  loss - there is a character who dies
  
  drugs - steroid use
  A whole town is brought to its knees when a beloved baseball player dies from steroid use complications
  
  There is one small line way at the end that mentions their birth mother died of a drug overdose.
  
  
  
  
• 
  Monica

  There were so many topics you could build lessons from with this book. Also, I like books that can hook girl/boy readers. I also really like how the author shows that adversity does not have to be end for dreams. Jer may never play baseball, but he figured out a way to stay involved with it.
  
  For a middle school book, I might give 4 stars, but I am rating it as a Bluebonnet nominee. I found the plot to develop too slowly for 3rd-5th graders, especially reluctant readers. Also, the topics were a bit heavy - death, steroid use, child abandonment. I do think if these topics are brought up with young readers, perhaps, some solutions should be covered, as well. This book just sort of brings up the problem, and leaves them.
• 
  Sara Fox

  I have loved every Joan Bauer book I have read thus far. SOAR did not disappoint. I love Jeremiah. It’s hard not to. He is a kid who makes a difference in the lives of everyone he meets and yet doesn’t even know it. His attitude, spirit, passion are something I want not only in my life, but in the life of my daughter as well.
  
  I have not read all of Joan Bauer’s books but the ones I have are always with a girl as the main character. No complaints there. But with SOAR having Jeremiah and his love of baseball front and center it will appeal to both girl and boy middle grade readers.
  
  I highly recommend this book!!
• 
  Jennisen

  OK. Sport books are not usually my thing, but this book is AMAZING! I wasn't sure where it was headed at first, but I did like the adoption storyline a lot. I loved the the Jeremiah had such a positive attitude about everything and really seemed to live life to the fullest without feeling like he was preaching at the reader. And with all of Jeremiah's heart problems, I loved that the main issues in the book still surrounded baseball and why baseball matters more than winning baseball. Very nicely done!
• 
  Nate

  How could I not love a book with baseball and robots? The main character, Jeremiah, is a blast to read about and you can't help but root for him as he navigates life as an orphaned (but immediately adopted by the man that finds him abandoned) child that has received a heart transplant. I think this is just about right for the 10-12 year-old set; the characters are diverse and just about anyone could find someone to relate to. My 10 year-old absolutely loved it. This is a perfect book for Spring/Summer. Enjoy!
• 
  Libby May

  I really enjoyed this book. It was really well written and clean for most all readers.
  
  There was a lot of baseball references, (The book is about baseball *eyeroll* but I enjoyed it even though I'm not a huge baseball fan. I recommend it for young adults and kids. :)
• 
  Kristi

  This story is awesome! It has appeal for everyone, children and adults alike. There's so much we can learn about living our best lives from reading it. I highly recommend it!