Game

by Walter Dean Myers
audiobook on CD, Carver County, 4.25 hours
read by JD Jackson

Drew Lawson is a Harlem basketball player with dreams of the big time. But when two white students move in and join the team, the attention they garner frustrates him and clouds his chances of winning a college scholarship that will get him out of his crime-ridden neighborhood.

I really enjoyed this story (except when there was a lot of basketball talk - just not my thing). I especially liked the relationship between Drew and his sister Jocelyn (?). Very fun! It was interesting for me to think about recommending this book to my students. Bball fans would probably like it, but the average Chaska kid most likely hasn't experienced inner-city black neighborhood issues. It's a very different world - one Myers brings to life extremely well.

I also loved that Drew's family was intact - mom, dad, sister, brother. Drew's friend had a brother facing prison time, and that impacted Drew positively (in that he saw the futility of going the route of so many other "brothers" in the area.