True Legend

Author: Mike Lupica
  
Genre: Realistic, Sports, Basketball  

Setting: Southern California

Themes: identity, being true to yourself, personal gifts, jealousy/envy, friendship, teamwork  

AR BL: 5.2   AR Points: 10.0  

Alerts: Very mild boy-girl friendship; True does make a mistake that brings him in contact with law enforcement (with appropriate consequences for his actions).  

Highly Recommended: 5th Grade and Up ; 4th graders who like more meaty / mature sports stories may enjoy this one also, but parents should be aware that the protagonist is in high school and that means more mature issues.

Wow! What can I say? I really liked this story and I am not a huge basketball fan. Baseball -- Yes! Football -- sometimes. Basketball -- not so much, but this book was good, very good. I read it in one sitting.

Drew Robinson is a player. He was born to play basketball. Even as a youngster he could dish the ball so well, he played point with guys much bigger and older. He's been featured on All-American teams and has even owned the top two spots on ESPN's top plays of the day. No doubt about Drew Robinson is a "True" player, a natural, may even have the possibility of becoming a legend, but Drew has begun to believe the hype surrounding him. "Lebron Junior," indeed. Drew is surrounded by people who are willing to do anything to get Drew to the pros. Nothing else matters. Or does it? Will Drew fall victim to the hype, or will he discover what it takes to be a True Legend?

One night, while practicing his game at a local park, Drew sees a ghost practicing on the old court, a player that strikes awe in Drew. Ghost or man? Which is he? Who is he? Whatever or whoever, he has the skills to have played with the pros. So what is he doing here on a rundown court? Drew needs to find out more about the "ghost" and wants to learn more about his game. Can the ghost "school" Drew in what really matters in the game, before it is too late for Drew?

This book is about so much more than basketball. It is about discovering what matters in life and being true to the gifts God has given each and everyone. The basketball scenes are extremely well-done and hold your breath exciting. After all, Lupica is a renown award-winning sports writer. He knows his stuff, but the real story in True Legend, the story that kept me reading half the night, is not about the team's season and attempt for a state championship but the story that developed Drew's character.

Readers will find themselves cheering for Drew, his best friend Lee (who might have been my personal favorite character), and others in the book, not only as they play the game of basketball but as they learn to play the game of life. This was my first Mike Lupica book, but I don't think it will be my last, especially if he goes beyond the sports hook in all of his books.

Former University of Memphis basketball coach John Calipari said about True Legend, "Mike Lupica captures the passion of basketball, the allure of NBA stardom, and the risks kids will take to get it. True Legend gets it right." I agree, True Legend is a game winner of a read.

Mike Lupica talks with Matt Lauer of the the Today Show about True Legend:

 

The Liberation of Gabriel King

Author:  K. L. Going

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Setting:  1976, Georgia

Themes:  Prejudice, Tolerance, Confronting and Resolving Fears, Friendship, Racism

Recommended:  4th Grade and Up

Accelerated Reader Book Level:  4.5

Mrs. Carter says:

It’s the summer of 1976. Former Georgia governor, Jimmy Carter, is running for president. Gas prices are high and the country is in a recession where money is tight. It’s also the year of the nation’s bicentennial, and the year Gabe has determined that he will not go to fifth grade next fall. You see, Gabriel King is afraid of almost everything — spiders, cows, centipedes, and almost anything to do with fifth grade. Everything except his best friend, Frita Wilson, that is.

Nobody can make Gabe move up to fifth grade, well, except possibly Frita. Frita has determined that while some people were “born chicken,” Gabe is not one of those people. According to Frita, all Gabe needs is a little “liberating”, and she is just the one to help free him from his fears.  Frita has a plan. She has Gabe make a list of all of his fears (all 38 of them), and they will attack those fears one by one throughout the summer. Once Gabe has faced all of his fears, he will have the courage to face fifth grade.

Things don’t go quite as planned, however. Gabe learns that Frita is not fearless as he had once thought, and Frita’s fears involve people who hate her for the color of her skin. How can Gabe ever help Frita when he is so afraid of everything himself?

The Liberation of Gabriel King by K. L. Going is a terrific read. It’s a thin little book (only 151 pages) and moves at a fast pace. Told in first person from Gabe’s point of view, the story is at times laugh out loud funny as Gabe desperately tries to overcome his own fears. When he becomes afraid for Frita, however, Gabe’s voice becomes much more serious . Will Gabe find the courage to help Frita?

One Crazy Summer

In Brief

Author:  Rita Williams-Garcia

Genre:  Historical Fiction

Setting: 1968 - Oakland, California

Themes:  abandonment, racism, oppression, poverty, responsibility, prejudices, discrimination, individuality, character

Highly Recommended:  Grades 4 and up

Accelerated Reader Book Level:  4.6

Awards:

• Nominee -- National Book Award for Young People's Literature (2010)
• Newbery Honor Book (2011)
• Scott O'Dell Historical Fiction Award (2011)
• Coretta Scott King Author Award (2011)
• Publishers Weekly's Best Children's Books of the Year for Fiction (2010)
• Many other nominations and awards. 

Review:

This is a powerful little gem of a read.  Rita Williams-Garcia's characters, especially Delphine,  leap off the page, grab hold of the reader, and just do not let go.

The story takes place in one of the most pivotal and chaotic years in the history of the United States -- 1968.  The year is also crazy for Delphine, Vonetta and Fern, traveling across the country for a summer visit with a mother who abandoned them seven years earlier.  Williams-Garcia chose to tell her story in first person, from Delphine's point-of-view, and Delphine's "old soul" voice shines through the prose, loud, clear and fabulous, as she balances the responsibility for caring for her sisters with her own need for someone to mother her. 

Eleven-year-old Delphine, the only one of the sisters to have any memories of their mother, has borne the role of "mother" for her younger sisters most of her life.  Although nervous about seeing her mother again, Delphine has visions of a glorious summer vacation and a joyful reunion with her mother.  The girls' mother, Cecile, however, resents the girls' visit and sends them to the community center run by the Black Panthers each day to keep them out of her way as she focuses on her writing. 

At the community center, Delphine and her sisters are immersed in the culture and propaganda of the Black Panther Movement.  They learn about the Movement's jailed leader Huey Newton and the tragic story of Panther martyr, Bobby Hutton.  As they learn more about the Movement and the discrimination that still existed during that time, the girls begin to balance what they learn with their own beliefs and experiences and are able to survive and thrive during One Crazy Summer.

Though the period depicted was somewhat violent and the issues addressed in the novel are serious and mature, Rita Williams-Garcia reveals her themes in a child-friendly format.  There is some mild racially-based name calling, but the violence of the period is not graphically depicted.  Cecile's abandonment of her family and her cavalier attitude toward her daughters is addressed in a way that can be understood according to each reader's individual maturity level.

As evidenced by the sheer number of awards for One Crazy Summer, this is a book not to be missed.

Zora and Me

Authors: Victoria Bond and T.R. Simon

Genre: Historical Fiction

Setting: Early 20th Century Eatonville, Florida

Themes:  social justice / injustice, race relations, discrimination, prejudices, racial identity, economic class, poverty, employment, migration / migratory workers

Highly Recommended :  Grade 4 Up

Awards:  Corretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award

Zora and Me won the 2011 Coretta Scott King John Steptoe New Talent Award, and I can see why.  I loved this book.  Told in first person narrative, this fictional story introduces middle grade readers to American literary great Zora Neale Hurston, author of the classic Their Eyes Were Watching God.

The fictional story is very loosely based upon events from Hurston's autobiography, Dust Tracks on the Road.  Hurston spent much of her early life in the town of Eatonville, Florida, one of the few all black incorporated towns in the US in the early twentieth century.  Told through the first person narrative by Zora's fictional best friend, Carrie, the prose begs to be read aloud.  It is through Carrie's rich voice that readers discover Zora's insatiable curiosity, tenaciousness, and her greatest gift -- the ability to spin stories that could capture anyone's attention.

The authors do not shy away from the issues and violence faced by African Americans living during this time.  Zora Neale Hurston's indomitable spirit shines through as she explores the swamps surrounding her community and discovers that the gators are not the only monsters in the area.  The girls also ponder and seek answers to the questions they have about their own identity (both personal and racial) -- who they are, how they see themselves, and who they want to be.  Thus, this novel, though short, is not a book for  readers younger than nine or ten.  It is a serious work, told with a child's sense of wonder, that should be savored and discussed.

Parents and Educators:  Be aware that the "n" word is used in its historical context.  (For the record, I do not believe in sanitizing such language in children's books as it was a part of our history.  If we refuse to acknowledge this, it is impossible to learn from it and move on from there. I merely mention this to alert parents and educators to be ready to discuss these issues with their children and students.)  In addition, there are a few instances of mild swearing (exclamations of Deity).  While the violence of the area and period is present, it is not graphically described, although there is a incident where a decapitated body is found.