Most Valuable Players ― A Rip & Red Book

In the fourth book of the Rip and Red series, the two boys have one last basketball thrill ride before the end of fifth grade.

It’s fifth-grade graduation time for Rip and Red, and this year’s festivities are going to be extra special because Reese Jones Elementary is also celebrating its twenty-fifth anniversary. As part of the gala, Hoops Machine, the exhibition basketball team, is paying a visit, and Rip may be playing a surprise role. But he and his friends need to finish their schoolwork first, which includes taking a newly required standardized test. However, when the students of Room 208 begin to question the need to take the test, a mini opt-out movement gains momentum. When the administration gets wind of this rebellion in Mr. Acevedo’s class, Hoops Machine, middle-school basketball tryouts, and walking at the graduation ceremony are in jeopardy. So is Mr. A’s job. But luckily
for Rip, Red, their classmates, and their teacher, when you stand up for what you believe in, the people you’ve touched along the way rally to your corner.

Most Valuable Players is the fourth book in the Rip & Red series, written by Phil Bildner with illustrations by Tim Probert.

Phil Bildner is a former New York City public school teacher and lives in Newburgh, New York. The author of many books—including Marvelous Cornelius: Hurricane Katrina and the Spirit of New Orleans and The Soccer Fence: A Story of Friendship, Hope, and Apartheid in South Africa—he speaks at numerous schools and libraries every year.

Tim Probert also illustrated Kim Baker's novel Pickle. He lives in New York City.