Who got game? Slam!

Author's Rating:

Pros: Tackles a lot of social issues concerning growing up an African-American male

Cons: lots of play by play basketball lingo. This might appeal to players.

The Bottom Line: 
An excellent coming-of-age story that tackles some intense issues.

Author's Review
As you open the cover, you get transported into the life of Slam, an African-American teenaged male, also known as Greg Harris. He is called Slam due to his skills on the basketball court. However, the strengths of this book take place off court- front and center in a typical urban high school and in the ghetto.

Some people might say that Greg has a chip on his shoulder. Whenever he feels that he is not being given respect, he retaliates with disrespect. In high school, this is not a good thing. His coach thinks that he is a prima donna player, and as such won't play him until the game is on the wire. In the beginning, Greg's game is the only thing that he can do well. He struggles with grades, and more specifically authority. But not without good reason. While I wouldn't consider racism a major theme of the novel, it pops up as an undeniable topic. For example, a teacher is giving Greg a hard time about not having his homework done. Greg tells him to lay off, using street slang. The teacher replies, '"Don't be standing over me?", He raised his voice. "Is that directly from your African background? Maybe from the We-Be tribe?"' Needless to say, the hot-tempered Greg does not react well to this blatant and public humiliation. This scene in particular marks a change in Greg. He knows that he has to do well in school to get anywhere in life, even with basketball. He knows that the "teacher is always right", at least as far as the school is concerned. He knows that he needs to react to "talkin' trash" in the real world in the same way he reacts on the court- by tearing up the game.

How does Greg transition his skills on the court to the "real world"? This is the major progression of the novel.

In the periphery, we meet Greg's friend Ice. Word on the street has that he is dealing drugs. Greg can't believe it. Ice denies it. But then again, he is dressing really nice, has a sweet ride, and is flashing cash like no one's business. Is it true? Has the fast cash claimed his friend?

And what would a young adult book be without a romantic interest? Greg has his eye on Mtisha, a really sweet and smart girl that helps him with his math homework. I appreciate that their relationship doesn't go too fast too soon. They're taking things slow, and that is nice to see sometimes. Greg really likes her, and it is endearing to watch him "sweat" her.

As the book is told from Greg's perspective, a lot of urban slang is used. Most of the time, it works. At times it gets a little heavy, but hey, dialect is one of the hardest things to write. Walter Dean Myers pulls it off admirably.

There is a lot of basketball action. This might appeal to basketball players, or people more familiar with the game than I. But, excellent writing carried me through- so even I got a good sense of what was happening on the court.

All in all, this is an excellent coming-of-age story. Greg is a likeable character with a lot of spirit and determination, and the lessons he learns are valuable ones. This is a book well worth picking up.