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Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Pena
A unique narrative voice combines basketball jargon, street lingo, and trash talk to tell the story of Sticky, a seventeen-year-old white boy who lives with his prostitute mother, in failed foster homes, and on the street. Sticky’s story is both depressing and inspiring. He develops excellent hoop skills that elevate his social standing among his black peers. When a girl named Anh-thu falls in love with him, she offers to help Sticky achieve his dreams. Basketball seems to be Sticky’s way out of his hopeless life, but he learns that he has to make the right moves on and off the court in order to make it big after a bad decision forces Sticky to confront dark secrets. The story jumps back and forth and provides detailed game action that will particularly appeal to basketball fans.
Review from School Library Journal:
"That white boy can ball-.He don't play like no regular white boy." Sticky, 17, has spent his life being abused by pimps living with his prostitute mother, bouncing from one foster home to another, and living on the street between failed placements. But he's developed incredible hoop skills that have given him considerable social standing among his mostly black peers. And he gets a girlfriend named Anh-thu, who loves him and wants to help him reach his dreams. Sticky sees basketball as his way out of his dead-end life and is determined to make the right moves in the game to attain his goal. But he doesn't quite know how to make the right moves in his life, until a bad decision leads him to confront dark secrets. Jumping back and forth in time, this first novel has a unique narrative voice that mixes street lingo, basketball jargon, and trash talk to tell Sticky's sorry saga from a variety of viewpoints. Although readers who are not familiar with basketball may have trouble following some of the detailed game action, even they will be involved in the teen's at once depressing and inspiring story. Sticky is a true original, and de la Pe-a has skillfully brought him to life.
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