The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian

The Absolutely True Diary of a Part-Time Indian by Sherman Alexie, 229 pages.
Arnold Spirit, Jr. known simply as Junior when he is on the reservation, starts out his life with a few disadvantages, he lives in poverty, he is hydrocephalic and small for his age, and he is treated cruelly by many of his neighbors and schoolmates. His best friend Rowdy, who has many of his own issues, has always stood up for Junior, but that changes when Junior takes a big chance and leaves the Res school for a better education. The boys  become rivals and their friendship seems to be on the brink of destruction.
An excellent book.
The audio was read by Sherman Alexie, and he does a wod\nderful job, but apparently the illustrations in the book itself, by artist Ellen Forney are great too.
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The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever

The Punch: One Night, Two Lives, and the Fight That Changed Basketball Forever by John Feinstein, 366 pages.

This was another of the books pulled from the list of those that had not left our shelves in a long while. I had always meant to read Feinstein. He's a well-regarded sportswriter, and many of his books circulate well. The fact that this one had not had a reader in while had me suspecting that it was one of those lesser books by a good writer. I was surprised to find out that this was not the case. The story Feinstein tells of a fateful night in 1977, when the Los Angeles Lakers played the Houston Rockets, and of the fight that broke out during the game was and is an interesting one.Kermit Washington, the Lakers power forward, was involved in a fight of sorts with the Houston center, Kevin Kunnert. As players from both teams rushed toward the altercation, Washington turned and punched one man who was running toward him, Rudy Tomjanovich. Tomjanovich was seriously injured. Both men were haunted by that split-second action, and though both continued to play, neither one had the career they seemed destined to have before that night. Feinstein does a great job of putting the events in context, of giving a balanced view of the incident and of the many consequences, and of letting all of the principals tell their stories.
This one is a keeper.
I also enjoyed reading a book that featured Kareem Abdul-Jabbar as a character as I was beginning to read Abdul-Jabbar's excellent novel, Mycroft Holmes.

The Crossover

The Crossover by Kwame Alexander, 240 pages
2015 Newbery Medal Winner
A 2015 Coretta Scott King Author Honor Book
A 2015 Top Ten Best Fiction for Young Adults Book

 Josh and his twin brother, Jordan (better known as JB), are teen basketball phenoms. Basketball is as vital and natural to them as breathing, which isn't surprising given that their father played professionally overseas before deciding to retire at a young age. This year, their team has a real chance at winning the county championship, especially since Josh and JB are playing the best they've ever played. But growing up (and in the case of identical twins, starting to grow apart) takes its toll on the young boys. Josh feels left out when JB starts dating a new girl at their school, pushing down his anger until it explodes on the court. He also can't ignore the increasingly louder arguments between his parents over his father's health. Josh pours it all into poetry, telling the story in verse, while playing it out on the court. In fact, Kwame Alexander's decision to write The Crossover in verse format is a great one, infusing the scenes where Josh and JB are playing in games with a hip-hop swagger, playing with font sizes, styles, and spacing to create an image of the action. It adds to the vulnerability that Josh is feeling about JB and his father's not-totally-obvious decline in health. My only complaint is that it feels like a lot gets packed into a short amount of time and then ends before the reader has time to process all that happened (though after reveling in the 500-plus pages of All the Light We Cannot See, this feels like an unfair observation to make, so it's probably just me and not the book). This is a great book, perfect for middle-grade readers, and definitely worthy of its accolades.

(Read as part of YALSA's Hub Reading Challenge.)

Power Forward

Power forward: my presidential education / Reggie Love 231 pgs.

Reggie Love was Obama's bodyman during the election and in the White House.  Prior to that, he was a college athlete in 2 sports at Duke.  This book is a love story to Obama but also includes inspirational messages learned by Love from his father, his coaches, and Obama.  I enjoyed the book except for one part that Love got wrong.  Maid-Rite sandwiches in Iowa are the greatest...although it really does depend on what restaurant you go to.  I have to assume they were not in Marshaltown when they got their Maid-Rite because those are awesome.

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Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby

Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby, 708 pages.

Lazenby provides what appears to be a fair and unbiased portrait of the basket ball legend, but who really knows? Was Michael Jordan an unreasonable bully to many of his teammates? If that is what it takes to be the greatest player of all time, and of be one of the highest paid athletes of his and several succeeding generations, then wasn't that an acceptable trade-off? Anyway, Lazenby starts out with how the Jordan family came to settle in the Cape Fear, North Carolina area, tells some interesting tales about Jordan's grandparents and parents and then tells the story of MJ's life. The legendary story of how Jordan didn't make the cut for his high school varsity team during his sophomore year is re-evaluated (or re-re-re-evaluated) with the author casting no particular stones, and showing the affect the decision not to play the future star may have had on Jordan's high school coach in later years. There is a great section on Jordan's time and North Carolina playing for Dean Smith. But the bulk of this massive bio focuses on Jordan's years as a Chicago Bull. It's a fascinating, multi-layered tale, and in every part, Lazenby gives the differing sides to the story. We hear from friends, family, opponents, teammates and coaches. Some of the stories show Jordan in a good light, others, not so much.

Jordan's life is well-documented and filled with controversy. Lazenby ably shows that little of the tale is settled history

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Sum it up

Sum it up:  1,098 victories, a couple of irrelevant losses, and a life in perspective by Pat Summitt 407 pgs.

Let me just say WOW, I picked up this book because it was up for best biography/memoir on goodreads up against the World's Strongest Librarian and I'm glad I did.  I had some idea who Pat Summitt was and know the Lady Vols have had a very successful basketball program for a long time.  I'm glad I took the time to learn more about this impressive woman and the legacy that she built by having the most wins of any NCAA Division I basketball team in history.  Looks like that record will stand for awhile, 1,098 victories.  Her brand of tough love with her players led them to achieve things they never thought possible. But she admits not everyone was glad they signed onto the team.  I can only imagine what it must be like to be on the receiving end of one of her withering glares.  In addition to her coaching career, this book talks about her fairly recent Alzheimer's diagnosis and how she is coping and working to maintain her independence and overall health. An impressive journey.

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The Final Four by Paul Volponi 244 pages 978-0-670-01264-0

What says March for young male athletes like the Final Four college basketball competition? Indeed, basketball fans will find plenty of action in this young adult novel. Volponi obviously knows his way around the court. He pits the favored Michigan State Spartans against the underdog Trojans from the much smaller Troy University.  This is an “epic” battle on more than one level. The star Spartan, Malcolm McBride is a conceited, selfish and brash freshman who cuts classes and is only putting in the time so he can ascend to the NBA. He is not a team player and accuses Michigan State of unfairly profiting off its college athletes. On the other side of the court is a team that plays well together. Its star players are Roko Bacic, an émigré from Crotia and Crispin Rice, a senior with romance problems. Roko left his country after his favorite uncle, a reporter was gunned down because of his political beliefs. Malcolm also has a close connection to death by gun. His older sister was the accidental victim in a drive-by shooting. Crispin after making an impossible shot and winning a previous play-off proposes marriage to his cheerleader girlfriend on camera in front of the world. The proposal might have been a bit premature since he doesn’t have a job or means to support a wife much less buy an engagement ring. Obviously, a lot more is going on than just basketball. Readers will get caught up in the personalities and the drama. The ending is a bit of a letdown, but believable nonetheless.

Shelter

Shelter by Harlan Coben   304 pp.

I haven't read any of Coben's "Myron Bolitar" series. This book is Coben's first venture into YA novels featuring Myron's nephew, Mickey, as the main character. Mickey is the 15 year old son of Myron's late brother. Myron takes him in after his brother's death and Mickey's mother's entry into rehab for drug addiction. Mickey grew up traveling the world with his parents as they worked on humanitarian projects. The day to day life of a new kid at high school is probably the only part of the story that isn't far-fetched. Once Mickey starts the search for his missing girlfriend, also a new kid, things get rather unbelievable. There's the town sheriff with a grudge against the Bolitars, his bully son who picks on six foot four inch Mickey, mysterious men in black limos, a creepy neighbor lady in a spooky house, a butterfly symbol that crops up in all sorts of places, and an old grave in the woods. Add burly strip club bouncers, exotic dancers, and a tattoo artist and you have the unreal package. The plot is better suited to an adult protagonist which would make it believable. In spite of the incredulous story, I liked the characters of Mickey and his classmates who help him, Ema-the goth girl, Spoon-the comic relief, and Rachel-the popular girl. I haven't decided if I'll read the second book.

Don't Put Me in Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench

Don't Put Me in Coach: My Incredible NCAA Journey from the End of the Bench to the End of the Bench by Mark Titus, sports Memoir, 257 pages. Titus was an AAU basketball star. His team won a lot. Maybe they were champions, I don't remember (I just looked at the pictures in the book again and there is one of them holding the AAU trophy, so yeah, they were). He blames his high-school coach for his not getting into Harvard, though he admits to ambivalence about wanting to play college ball, and does point out that though his coach was an a-hole, telling him that he was one was not the best career move. Even though Titus knew there was a good chance he would not play in a big-time college basketball, he ended up foregoing any of the mid-majors that offered him a scholarship and decided to attend Ohio State with his AAU teammates, Greg Oden, Mike Conley, and Daequan Cook. His joy comes when he makes peace with the fact that he won't be playing for Ohio State except in those last moments of blow-out games and he decides to not take it all too seriously. He starts blogging about being on the bench and starts his "Club Trillion" based on his game stats, 1 minute of playing time and a string of zeroes for points, assists, rebounds, etc. He is mostly funny, funnier than Tom Davis, but not as funny as Tina Fey (on the scale of humorous memoirs I have read in the last year). Check our catalog.

Don't put me in, coach

Don't put me in, coach:  my incredible NCAA journey from the end of the bench to the end of the bench / Mark Titus 257 pgs.

Mark Titus was a walk on to the Ohio State basketball team.  He never had much chance to be a star...he abruptly stopped growing before he hit his 6'9" predicted height and he is a good but not great player.  He does, however make use of his talent for giving his team mates trouble and pranking them (and his coaches).  He ends up starting a club for benchwarmers everywhere and developing an award.  It seems like he probably had more fun in his four years of college than any other five of us combined...and I know LOTS of people who had fun in college.  Fun book that talks a bit about the basketball but doesn't overwhelm you with the sports stuff.

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What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen 402 pages 9780670012947

Sarah Dessen has a true gift for writing for teen girls. Each of her books is poignant and true. The characters are fresh, believable and hard to say goodbye to. McLean is moving, again, to her Dad's next assignment. He is a restaurant troubleshooter, sent to a troubled restaurant with a mission of evaluating the restaurant's chances of survival or the possibility of success with changes.
McLean's parents are divorced. Her mom took up with the hot basketball coach of Defriese University. Basketball is kind of a religion she shared with her dad -- she was named after the university's all-time winningest coach, until her mother defected, married and had twins with the coach.
So, every time they move, McLean creates a new persona with a new name. She has learned not to get attached to people or places since they are likely to move in 6 - 12 weeks. But she finds herself breaking her self-imposed rules when they move to Lakeview. She makes friends and really wants this restaurant to succeed.
Her mom wants to reestablish a relationship and threatens McLean's dad with legal actions if McLean does not start spending quality time with her mom's new family.
What makes this book special is her evolving relationship with Dave, the guy next door, who has his own family problems and is also a new kid at the local public high school.
These kids have problems, but not the messy drug and sex problems of so many teenage novels. This looks at the meaning of family and friendship and the importance of trust and communication.

The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James by Scott Raab

The Whore of Akron: One Man's Search for the Soul of LeBron James by Scott Raab, sports 302 pages.
Ancient, crabby-guy sportswriter Raab discovers that some professional athletes are self-centered and just in it for the money. Sure LeBron leaving Cleveland was a big deal in Cleveland, but it is rather an insignificant thing to base your life around, to seek and swear revenge for, to pray that someday LeBron is brought to justice to atone for this heinous act. Raab's overly long, splenetic diatribe against LeBron James is whiny, self-contradictory, and yet still somewhat fun to read.

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Tall Story by Candy Gourlay 296 pages

A brother and half-sister who had never met and were separated by oceans are reunited when the brother finally gets his government approved travel papers. Bernardo, the brother must leave the only home he has known with his aunt and uncle in a small Philippine village. There are a lot of complications. The village has a superstition that his presence will prevent a devastating earthquake (so his aunt and uncle try to sneak him out). He is also afflicted with a condition called Gigantism which has shot him up in height past eight feet (hence the book title). On the way to his new home he has a seizure and his mother fears that he has even more medical problems. It is a good thing that his mother and step-father are both nurses, but it also means that they work all the time and his young half-sister, Andi is reluctantly forced to take care of him. Andi is passionate about basketball and her dream is to play point-guard for her new school's all male basketball team. Bernardo's best friend, Jabby was also crazy about basketball. Bernardo would seem to be a natural because of his height, but he is very physically awkward. There is a bit of magic in this warm family story which has humor and heart.

Julia Gillian (and the Dream of the Dog) by Alison McGhee 327 pages

It has been a while since I have wept over a children's book or any book. I am warning you to have the tissues close at hand when you near the ending of this book. Julia's pet St. Bernard is old. His slight cold turns out to be the warning that his heart is damaged. Julia tries to reject the words of the veterinarian the way she often impulsively reacts to negative situations. She tries to alter their daily routines to keep Bigfoot safe. She has a big problem at school also. Her third grade reading buddy, Fergus hates reading as does she. Somehow they have to create a huge literary project. Another problem involves Julia's fear of upperclassmen in general, and the seemingly perfect, Ms. Caravaggio, eighth grade basketball star. Julia has great friends of all ages, supportive parents and caring school personnel. I am not a dog lover and am more partial to small canines, but McGhee creates a wonderful pet in Bigfoot. You don't have to be a dog loving, sixth grade girl to enjoy this book -- her best friend is a boy and Julia who has a goal of claiming fame by being the youngest person to get 300+ free shots through the basketball hoop is no girly-girl.

Front and Center by Catherine Gilbert Murdock 256 pages

This is the third book by Murdock with the engaging and athletic D. J. Swenk. In the last book, The Off Season, D. J. found herself relunctantly coaching dreamy football quarterback, Brian. As the only girl in a family with three powerful sports star brothers, she could not help but be well schooled in anything having to do with balls. In this book, she misses out on football because she is helping nurse her brother who was severely injured last year. She is back in time to suit up as captain of the basketball team. After her breakup with Brian, she is a little boy shy, but finds her friendship with class clown, Beaner developing into something perhaps more serious...except she still has twinges whenever she sees Brian, which seems to be more and more often even though he attends the rival high school. Even though she is only a junior, she finds pressure mounting to choose which college she wants to attend. Should she settle for a small school that won't challenge her much or try for a major university? It is refreshing to see a girl handle some of the questions that usually only face guys in sports fiction. D. J. is great girl who learns much about leadership, her family and herself.

When the Game Was Ours by Earvin "Magic"Johnson and Larry Bird

When the Game Was Ours by Earvin "Magic"Johnson and Larry Bird, 340 pages, sports.

Two of the best NBA players of all time recount their time playing basketball against each other. The book traces the relationship between the two fierce competitiors from the 1979 NCAA championship game when Johnson's Michigan State team played Bird's Indiana State, through their storied professional careers and each man's induction into the Hall of Fame. A story of friendship and a great account of 1980's basketball.

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