Learning the ropes with a new school, team, and coach can be tough. Can the “savior of Hillsdale High” accept reality and play team ball? Coach Hal Bridges gives him a choice . . .Edge-of-your-seat basketball excitement galore as Rob Mathews and new teammate Trip McHenry lead the powerful Hillsdale Pirates against not one, but two arch-rivals. Long-time adversary Pine Bluff stands in the way of Coach Hal Bridges' long-coveted League Championship, while budding nemesis Valley Christian is blocking Hillsdale’s path to a Sectional title . . . if they can get past Pine Bluff! The game action will keep you guessing and turning pages to see who comes out on top!But the first question that needs to be answered is . . . can Trip McHenry and Coach Bridges coexist? Rob’s nerdy next-door neighbor Allison Pierce helps Trip come to grips with the situation as does Coach Dave Wilson. The other looming question is if Trip does get on board . . . will he stay? Being heavily recruited for next season by both Canyon High, a private school in Trip’s home area of Los Angeles . . . and by the perennial powerhouse Valley Christian Knights just down the hill has Trip confused and torn. After visits to both campuses and interactions with all three schools vying for him, Trip’s decision slowly comes into focus.During the season the friendships between Rob, Trip, and Allison grow stronger individually and collectively. Trip is invited to join in on “Movie Night” and grows to appreciate Allison more and more as the weeks fly by. She becomes his go-to person for wisdom and support . . . but support comes from everywhere as Trip struggles to make a decision. Rob continues to fail in his dating life . . . with Allison and Trip trying to help to no avail . . .ABOUT THE SERIES . . .Trip Arrives is the fifth in a completed series of twelve books by Mac McGowan. Written with a light narrative hand, riveting sports action, and a sprinkling of humor, the stories flow along briskly. The series follows Rob chronologically through his high school career, in either a football, basketball, or baseball season. Rob will face bitter rivals in all three sports and questions of morals, ethics, integrity, and social interaction, on and off the field of play. Through Rob, his mother, the girl-next-door, his best friend, a special girlfriend, and his two mentor coaches, the reader will learn life lessons along with Rob.The series matures as Rob does, slowly working his way toward adulthood as the conflicts go from bullies to bad coaches to girl problems and work their way up to relationships, where to go to college, and how to look at long-term life goals. It takes a while, but we watch as Rob goes from caring only about what a girl looks like to a guy who understands what’s inside that matters. But make no mistake . . . action-packed sports are at the heart of all 12 books. The series offers an excellent opportunity for readers to enjoy thrilling wins and losses against bitter rivals on the field or court . . . and experience the joy and heartbreak of teenage romance, learn life lessons, make better choices, learn a little coaching philosophy, and become better people. More importantly, it offers an enjoyable, easy, fun, thrilling, and satisfying read.