Review by Booklist Review
Dante loved basketball, spending any chance he got on the court and dragging his best friend, Tony, along, but everything changes when Dante is killed, shot by a police officer who is not being held accountable. The community is shattered, as are Tony and Dante's brother, Terry. Tony tries to make the basketball team, hoping to honor Dante, but he doesn't make the cut, and Terry is unreachable after his brother's death. Tony lands the role of team statistician, however, and as he leads the team to incredible wins, the game and the coach's support help Terry find hope in the future. This inspirational novel follows distinct, hardworking characters who come together as a team and unite their community in the face of unthinkable loss. They bring the injustice of Dante's death to the spotlight, while Tony's engaging narration spurs the novel on. An inspirational story that shows that while reality can at times be too sad to bear, it can also--with the support of loved ones--be filled with hope.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Former NBA All-Star Butler and author Reynolds (It's the End of the World and I'm in My Bathing Suit) deliver a touching series opener about a community mourning in the aftermath of deadly police violence. Milwaukee middle schooler Tony Washington idolizes Dante, his friend and a high school basketball star who is the country's number-two-ranked player. When Dante is murdered by a white police officer, the event causes Tony to grapple with disheartening truths about life in his underprivileged community, Oasis Springs. Hoping to follow in Dante's footsteps, Tony tries out for Coach James's Amateur Athletic Union team, the Sabres. Coach instead persuades Tony to become the team's statistician, citing his analytical skills, and a tournament provides Tony an outlet to see the world beyond Oasis Springs, even as his community struggles with their grief. Butler and Reynolds compassionately explore heavy themes such as mental health, police violence, and toxic masculinity via Tony's camaraderie with his teammates and his tense family dynamics. While predictable at times, this bustling narrative is brimming with exciting, detailed basketball scenes and moving life lessons about the things one takes for granted, the importance of community, and the will to succeed despite stacked odds. Most characters are Black. Ages 8--12. (Sept.)
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Review by Horn Book Review
Narrator Tony Washington's friend Dante Jones, the number-two-ranked high-school basketball player in the country, was shot and killed by the police on the kids' neighborhood court. Now Tony, who is still very much in mourning, is determined to make the under-fourteen AAU team to honor Dante and to live out his own hoop dreams. When he doesn't make the team, he feels even more lost and ready to give up: "Who even cares about a silly game throwing a stupid ball into a dumb net?" But Coach James finds a way for math-nerd Tony to be on the team: in the role of statistician. The book is divided into four quarters, and descriptions of Tony's analytics and sports action sequences are enhanced by former NBA standout Butler's deep knowledge of the game. Off the court, too, players have worldview-expanding experiences through Coach's guidance and visits to an art museum at an HBCU, the Rock Roll Hall of Fame, Disney World, and the ocean. Though heavy on sports metaphors for life, the story is notable for its consideration of racism, justice, inequality, and trauma along with exciting basketball action and memorable characters. Dean Schneider November/December 2022 p.82(c) Copyright 2022. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
(c) Copyright The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review
After a promising young talent is shot dead on a neighborhood basketball court, the game takes on new meaning for a community in mourning. Middle schooler Tony "Tone" Washington lost a close friend when a police officer opened fire on honor student Dante Jones, cutting the nationally ranked basketball player's life short. The working-class Milwaukee neighborhood Tone and his family live in is no stranger to injustice, so in the aftermath, a rally, protest, and candlelight vigil are organized in tragically routine fashion. All the while, Tone's focus is on making an elite local AAU basketball team, partially in commemoration of his late friend but also because--despite recognizing some of the disconcerting aspects of so much of your future being determined as a young teen--the sport takes up a significant space in the lives and dreams of the boys in his neighborhood. But the overlap of hoop dreams and police brutality ultimately makes for some uncomfortable and uneven narrative beats. As Tone narrates his interactions with Dante's younger brother, Terry, the latter boy is obviously and justifiably angry and hurt because of his very personal loss, making Tone's dogged focus on basketball strike a hollow note. Despite some compelling reflections on community and emotional health, sports clichés abound on the way to the national championship, and the impact of Dante's death only three months earlier is not fully explored. Most characters are assumed Black. A provocative shot but far from a slam-dunk. (Fiction. 12-16) Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
