By LeBron James and Andrea Williams
Amazon rating: 4.6/5, grades 3-7
Good Reads: 4.23/5
Common Sense Media: 3/5, ages 8+
4Rbooks: 5+/6, grades 6-8
247 pages
Synopsis:
Hoop Group and Coach Beck have been an institution in the city of Lorain for many years. It was the training ground for NBA star Kendrick King. Jayden has been training and practicing all summer to make the team. Basketball is his ticket to the best high school, college, the NBA, and a chance to take care of his mother and grandmother.
On the first day of practice, Jayden learns the Coach Beck is retiring and there is no one else to coach the team. He and four other students try to keep the team alive, with many starts and stops along the way. There is Chris, Kendrick’s nephew who is all ego and not enough skill. Dex, short and studious and not much of an athlete. Anthony is big, tall, moody, and not interested in sports. Finally, there is Tamika, Coach Beck’s daughter who just wants a chance to play and show her dad how capable she is.
Though rarely are there five players available through most of their practices, the team qualifies for the city-wide tournament through a skills competition. As they help each other navigate through school and family issues, they start to become a unified team, and with the help of a surprise coach, find success. They also learn that becoming friends can create a different kind of familiy.
Parental Guidance: medium-high
All of the main characters have family drama/trauma to deal with:
Jayden’s dad left after he was born, and he and his mom live with his
grandmother. Jayden’s mom loses her job in the story.
Tamika’s father is suffering from Parkinson’s disease. Though a
famous basketball coach, he is not supportive of her basketball dreams.
Chris’s father spent 6 months in jail for selling counterfeit logo t-shirts.
Anthony’s father is an alcoholic and his mom is paralyzed in a wheelchair.
Dex’s mom was a teenage mother, and they live in an apartment building in a
sketchy area. Dex is a latch key kid.
Roddy, Jayden’s friend, and boss, shares how his life changed when he became a father at
18 and had to give up his basketball dreams.
There is a flashback scene of domestic violence. Anthony’s father pushing his mother
down the stairs causing her paralysis.
Anthony was involved in a school fight and bullies Dex in one scene.
Tamika’s father has a fall and hits his head on the kitchen counter requiring a trip to the ER.
Recommendation:
Yes, you read that right, one of the co-authors is NBA superstar LeBron James. LeBron is passionate about education and started the “I Promise” schools in his hometown of Akron, Ohio. This is his first novel for children, and as of today, it’s only been out for a month. I must admit, I was pleasantly surprised.
Even though I listed quite a few parental warnings, I thought this was an excellent book and would recommend it highly, especially to children who are LeBron fans, or basketball fans in general. While there are serious themes throughout the story, I felt they were handled in an appropriate way for middle-school children. They were honest portrayals without being sensationalized. I would only recommend this for elementary students with parent guidance or as a family read-aloud.
The story is a typical children’s sports novel: team gets to know each other, team struggles, team learns to trust each other on the way to the big game finale. It reminded me of the Home Team series I reviewed earlier by Mike Lupica.
The children represent a wide variety of characters: the obsessed player, the girl trying to show she belongs, the brainiac trying to fit in, the big ego learning to be a team player, and the tough guy with a heart of gold. The adults run the gamut from dysfunctional to inspirational, but all told in authentic fashion.
One thing I especially appreciated is that faith and trust in God, and his plans for our lives, is brought up by three different families as examples for how they cope, survive, and keep hope alive while making it through each day.
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