Meet Kevin Pugh, 12-year-old couch potato. Now meet Cromwell, his part beagle, part potato chip dog. Kevin's looking forward to spending his summer doing as little as possible. Unfortunately, Kevin's father, former Chicago Bears star player/super-sports fanatic, Howie Pugh, feels differently. So does Cromwell, who has suddenly and mysteriously developed a fascination with agility competitions: running up seesaws, leaping over hurdles, soaring through hoops (sometimes). If he has to do anything, Kevin would rather do something for newly obsessed Cromwell, but dog agility lessons do not constitute a sport in his father's mind, so football camp it is. Until some well-timed events collide, literally, and soon Kevin's found a way for he and Cromwell to take classes, and the upstart Team Cromwell is born. Andy Behrens has written a hilarious novel with a dry-as-dirt protagonist who's constantly tortured by the goings-on around him. It's also a charming story about a boy and his dog, as well as a meaningful and heartfelt look at a relationship between a boy and his father who don't always see eye-to-eye.

Andy Behrens is the author of two previous children’s books. He lives in Chicago with his wife and daughter.

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1

Twelve-year-old Kevin Pugh stood on the pitcher's mound. He squeezed a large red ball. Perspiration had gathered in dark semicircles on his WYCR-TV T-shirt. The June sun seemed to be cooking him, like a bratwurst. Or an Italian sausage. Or a smoked cheddarwurst--he really missed those. For reasons unknown, his mom had switched to chicken sausage, which he violently disliked. He kept telling her that all encased meat is not the same, but she . . .

"Pull your shorts up, honey!"

Maggie Pugh's voice cut into the quiet of the infield.

Kevin glared at his mom, who waved from the glossy green-painted stands. Kevin tugged at his droopy cargo shorts and bounced the ball in the dirt. The print below the manufacturer's logo read "official kickball of WAKA, the world adult kickball association."

"Dorks," Kevin muttered to himself.

"Uhds gug, Gev!" snapped the second baseman through a giant wad of radioactive-looking neon green bubble gum. "Uhduh-booty!"

He glanced over his left shoulder. His sister Izzy (short for Isabella, which no one called her, ever) was clapping her hands and hopping, a black ponytail bobbing behind her. Lean and wiry, Izzy had an unusually steely glare for a ten-year-old. Izzy was a local Chicago Park District soccer legend, but her awe-inducing athleticism went well beyond soccer. Other than parents and a mailing address, Izzy and Kevin didn't have a ton in common. Kevin needed a moment to interpret her gum-impeded speech.

"Let's go, Kev! Attababy!" Izzy repeated, still inexplicably clapping.

Kevin shook his sweat-soaked shirt lightly to fan himself. A goose in left field honked.

"Time!" called a booming voice behind him. "Time out!"

Kevin's shoulders tensed.

He heard his dad's footsteps approaching from the shortstop's position. Howie Pugh--former Chicago Bear, beloved WYCR football analyst, and local sports demigod--was perhaps the most competitive human to ever walk the earth. No, the most competitive creatureof any kind--mammal, sea slug, potted plant, whatever--to ever walk the earth.

Kevin wiped sweat from his face with the back of his hand and turned slowly.

Howie wrapped an arm around Kevin, engulfing him.

"Get your head straight, Kev," he said gruffly. "It's the sixth inning. Bases loaded. Two out. The go-ahead run at home plate."

Kevin scuffed his right toe in the dirt. "Thanks for the breakdown, Dad. I was expecting a hopeful sports cliche. 'When your back is against the wall. . .'--that sort of thing."

"Not an appropriate time for the sarcasm, Kevin." Howie spat. "What's the matter with you?"

"Um . . . for one thing, it's like a million degrees," Kevin said, staring into his dad's eyes. "And if you haven't noticed, they are now intentionally kicking at me, because I suck at kickball and they know I won't catch the ball. I thought we established that during last summer's WYCR-WFRK Charity Challenge. If you don't remember, I think there's a DVD in the basement that documents--"

"Okay, all right," said Howie, pausing awkwardly. "Just try your best, Kev."

"I am trying, Dad," said Kevin.

"Okay, kid." More aggressive spitting. "Then let's talk strategy." Howie spun his son around to face the next WFRK kicker. "That is Bradley Ainsworth Jr., the eleven-year-old son of six-time local Emmy winner Brad Ainsworth."

Kevin stared toward home plate. Brad Ainsworth stood behind the hitting screen. A veteran sportscaster at local TV station WFRK, Brad looked like a carved pumpkin, with his orange-ish fake tan and eye black on his cheeks. He was quietly delivering instructions to the small, angry-looking boy