Ball Don't Lie - Harry Potter 6 Books

Product Description

Sticky is a beat-around-the-head foster kid with nowhere to call home but the street, and an outer shell so tough that no one will take him in. He started out life so far behind the pack that the finish line seems nearly unreachable. He’s a white boy living and playing in a world where he doesn’t seem to belong.

But Sticky can ball. And basketball might just be his ticket out . . . if he can only realize that he doesn’t have to be the person everyone else expects him to be.

A breakout urban masterpiece by newcomer Matt de la Peña, Ball Don’t Lie takes place where the street and the court meet and where a boy can be anything if he puts his mind to it.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #685341 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-27
• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From School Library Journal
Starred Review. Grade 9 Up–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 Peña has skillfully brought him to life.–Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist
Gr. 9-12. "I think God put me here to play ball," says 17-year-old Sticky. Shuffled between foster homes since childhood, the skinny, white teen devotes himself to playing basketball at Lincoln Rec, a gritty Los Angeles gym, where he has found a family among the serious players, mostly black men. In colloquial language filled with the words and rhythms of hip hop and the street, Pena's debut tells a riveting story about Sticky's struggle to secure a college basketball scholarship and deepen his relationship with his girlfriend. The disjointed narrative, which loops between past and present, may slow a few readers. Others, though, will see the nonlinear story as a reflection of Sticky's own internal journey as he faces violent childhood tragedies, his numbed emotions, and his sometimes-compulsive behavior (he repeats actions such as shoe-tying until they feel right). Teens will be strongly affected by the unforgettable, distinctly male voice; the thrilling, unusually detailed basketball action; and the questions about race, love, self-worth, and what it means to build a life without advantages. Gillian Engberg
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

About the Author
First-time novelist Matt de la Peña attended the University of the Pacific on a basketball scholarship. He went on to earn a Masters of Fine Arts in creative writing in his hometown, at San Diego State University. Today he lives and writes (and occasionally still plays ball) in Brooklyn, New York.

Customer Reviews

Great Book
This is a great book. Everyone should read this book. And the movie is gonna be really good.

Ball Don't Lie
I liked his book because it was about basketball and I have played basketball for the last nine years. I felt like I understood the book because I know a lot about basketball. It also told of a story about a boy growing up in the foster carte system.
Sticky was the main character of this book. It starts out when he is 16 years old waiting for a chance to play a pick up game at the recreation center. All the guys from the neighborhood like to hang out there. He is the only white player on the court. The other players make fun of his name. It was a nickname his mother gave him so he likes it and gets angry because they wanted him to say his real name or change it.
The book flips back and forth from his rough childhood with his single mother, to his multiple foster parents, to current time. It took him through rough and good experiences with friends and foes.
He meets a girl from high school who he likes and they start dating. They want to go to the same college so Sticky has to try really hard to get a basketball scholarship.
He learned life lessons throughout the book. Most of his lessons were learned on the court at the recreation center. There were lots of fights, laughter, and yelling, homeless people, young and old people.
I give this book a 5 star rating and you should for sure buy Ball don't lie if you don't you'll be missing out.

Ball Don't Lie
I loved the book. I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what happened to the main character, "Sticky." It's not the kind of book you have to use a dictionary all the time. It's written in plain simple language.
The only draw back was the lines that were repeated. Other than that, it was an excelent story. I even got motivated to dig the old basketball out of the closet. Good show!