Hoops

Hoops. Walter Dean Myers. New York: Delacorte Press, 1981. 183 pages.
Lonnie Jackson can move, dribble, shoot, slam, or do anything that a pro basketball player can do. Although Lonnie can play the game of basketball extremely well, he soon learns from his new friend and coach, Cal, that there is more to basketball than just playing well.
Lonnie is surrounded by situations that he doesn’t know how to handle. After entering the Tournament of Champions, a New York street-ball tournament, Lonnie and his team encounter more temptations and problems. Cal is all too familiar with these complications because he had once been in the same situation as Lonnie, a hotshot basketball star with nothing but opportunity, who gave in to the bad aspects of the game. Cal sees Lonnie and his team as a way to redeem himself from the treacheries he went through, and he also wants to see Lonnie succeed.
All through the tournament, Lonnie has to deal with the problems of living in Harlem as well. While Lonnie is away from the court, Cal opens his eyes to the other side of the game where there is a cutthroat world after power and money.
Hoops is an ideal book for any basketball-loving teen. Although some of the basketball slang is from two decades ago, it depicts plays and games perfectly and also has a good plot away from the courts. Due to the old terms of basketball, I give this book a 9 out 10.
Reviewed by Andrew H.