From Newbery-winning author Betsy Byars comes a story full of "poignancy, perception, and humor" (The Chicago Tribune), about three foster kids who learn what it takes to make a family.

You can't always decide where life will take you--especially when you're a kid.

Carlie knows she's got no say in what happens to her. Stuck in a foster home with two other kids, Harvey and Thomas J, she's just a pinball being bounced from bumper to bumper. As soon as you get settled, somebody puts another coin in the machine and off you go again.

But against her will and her better judgment, Carlie and the boys become friends. And all three of them start to see that they can take control of their own lives.

Author: Betsy Byars
Binding Type: Paperback
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 08/10/2004
Series: Apple Paperbacks
Pages: 144
Weight: 0.23lbs
Size: 7.68h x 5.22w x 0.32d
ISBN: 9780064401982
Audience: Ages 9-12

Accelerated Reader:
Reading Level: 3.8
Point Value: 3
Interest Level: Middle Grade
Quiz #/Name: 242 / Pinballs


Award: 1979 Georgia Children's Book Award Winner - Children's Book


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 06/12/1987
Publishers Weekly 01/04/1993

About the Author
Byars, Betsy: - Betsy Byars is a widely read and loved author of many award-winning middle-grade books for children, including Summer Of The Swans (Viking), a 1971 Newbery Medal winner. The Pinballs was an ALA Notable Children's Book in 1977 as well as the basis for an ABC Afterschool Special. Other books she has written for HarperCollins are Good-bye, Chicken Little; The Seven Treasure Hunts, illustrated by Jennifer Barrett; and three I Can Read Books, the popular The Golly Sisters Go West, Hooray For The Golly Sisters!, and The Golly Sisters Ride Again, all illustrated by Sue Truesdell. Ms. Byars lives in Clemson, South Carolina, with her husband.Byars, Betsy Cromer: -

Betsy Byars is the author of many award-winning books for children, including The Summer of the Swans, a Newbery Medal winner. The Pinballs was an ALA Notable Book. She is also the author of Goodbye, Chicken Little; The Two-Thousand-Pound Goldfish; and the popular Golly Sisters trilogy.