A Pass And A Prayer By Coach Clair Bee

he book A Pass and a Prayer, by Coach Clair Bee is a realistic fiction book. It starts off as a normal year at Valley Falls high school. Chip Hilton, a big athlete in the community, is a senior along with his friends playing football for Coach Rockwell. The chemistry between the players and Rockwell could never be better, until Rockwell was hospitalized because of a sudden illness. This event appointed assistant Coach Brasher as head coach for almost the rest of the season. The one player that Brasher had a grudge on was Chip because of his athletic ability. So, he brought in Tug Rankin, a new kid from another school, to take the first string quarterback position, trying to make Chip jealous. For the rest of the book, Brasher kicked Chip off the team, benched him, and was on his case during practice and games. Chip’s friends, like any other friends, said they had enough and wanted to quit. But Chip responded with a comment about Rockwell and how they should “stick” it out for him. Matters began to worsen and Chip Hilton had enough. He gathered

Coach Rockwell was seriously ill, and their new coach did not appeal to them. What stuck out to me during this book was the theme that the author was trying to convey. Even when times get tough, that doesn’t mean you should quit; you should push on because it will pay off. “Chip was really bugged now, but he kept quiet, resolved to play as hard as he knew how,” (Bee 126). Before this, Coach Brasher was screaming his lungs out at Hilton for not going 100 percent. This set Hilton off, but as you can see he kept his composure. He could have argued with coach which could have meant a worse punishment. The unfair treatment towards Chip made the team want to quit multiple times. This is how much of the book went on. Coach got angry at Chip, Chip kept his cool, and the team tried to quit. The perseverance the team showed paid off in the