Seventeen-year-old Sticky lives for basketball and plays at school and at the Lincoln Rec Center in Los Angeles but he is unaware of the many dange...
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reviews
Dec 18, 2011
Tonner
rated it: 
I just got done reaading the book Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Pena. I gave this book four out of five stars for a rating. The story started out with Sticky, the main character. From there, it starts to build when Sticky goes to play basketball with his friends at an open gym court. From there it starts showing how sticky is becoming more of a thug and troublemaker. The climax is when Sticky mugs a drug dealer and gets shot in the hand. Then the falling action is when Sticky is in the hosp
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Nov 06, 2011
David
rated it: 
Ball Don't Lie is about a teen named Sticky who loves the sport of basketball. The beginning of the book begins with describing the Lincoln Rec, the place where Sticky plays basketball all the time. When you get past all of that description, then you will get into the good part of the story. The book gives us a history of how Sticky met his girl friend named Anh-thu.Sticky is a person that faces experiences that some teens may face. A great basketball player for his high school team, as well as
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Jan 02, 2011
Mateo
rated it: 
This book was about a 17 year old bad kid named Sticky. He had been thrown out of way too many foster homes because he's sloppy, doesn't follow the rules his parents, schools, and police give him, and cares only about his friends and basketball. Sticky is the best player in the streets. Almost nobody can block him from getting a dunk. After many wrong decisions like: breaking a window of a ferrari, stealing, drugs, sex, and getting into fights, etc. he finally becomes the basketball superstar he
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Sep 26, 2010
Santo
rated it:
Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Pena. This book is realistic fiction. The subject in this book is sticky over coming what happens in is life at home by becoming a better basketball player. This book would be in the realistic fiction genre wise. I would recommend this book to people who like to laugh, who look forward to a little mystery and adventure. Ball Don't lie will keep you turning your pages.
Summarization
Sticky who is a 17 year old white male has spent his life being abused by More...
Summarization
Sticky who is a 17 year old white male has spent his life being abused by More...
Aug 12, 2010
Anna
rated it:
This is Matt de la Pena's first book and I totally love Matt de la Pena but there's a reason why I've been so lazy about reading this one and it's because it's all about BASKETBALL! And, really, I don't have a lot of love for the sport. To me it's kind of boring and, yes, it has action, but I just never really quite figured out how to like it? I don't know but I sort of worried about that aspect of this book. And, sure enough, it wasn't that I didn't enjoy this but I didn't enjoy it as much as h
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Sep 08, 2009
Tyree
rated it:
This book is about a few kids who know everything there is about basketball, the eduation, the history, and the fundamentals. These kids are doing porly in school. Throughtout this book, teachers teach the kids how to focus on school work as much as you focus on basketball.
I can connect to this book because the DEan in my school, he knows me very well and he knows that I play basketball and I do good in class. ANd he also knows that basketball gets caught up in class when it really More...
I can connect to this book because the DEan in my school, he knows me very well and he knows that I play basketball and I do good in class. ANd he also knows that basketball gets caught up in class when it really More...
Nov 08, 2011
Gino
rated it:
I recommend the book “Ball don’t lie” by Matt de la Peña to anyone who likes basketball and can relate to fictionally realistic events, such as stuff that can happen every day to someone.
This book is full of realistic situations, that also include basketball as well. Such as the first page starts with “Dreadlock Man, with his fierce fists and prospect jump shot…” it’s already talking about basketball. Then there’s other pages with more serious things like “ It’s the white devil…” (p.124) w More...
This book is full of realistic situations, that also include basketball as well. Such as the first page starts with “Dreadlock Man, with his fierce fists and prospect jump shot…” it’s already talking about basketball. Then there’s other pages with more serious things like “ It’s the white devil…” (p.124) w More...
Dec 29, 2009
Ball Don't Lie
Matt de la Pena
Delacorte Press
280 pages
Ball Don't Lie is a great book about a teen named Sticky who loves the sport of basketball, and lives a life with mixed emotions. The beginning of the book begins with describing the Lincoln Rec, the place where Sticky plays basketball all the time. When you get past all of that description, then you will get into the good part of the story. The book gives us a history of how Sticky met his girl friend named More...
Matt de la Pena
Delacorte Press
280 pages
Ball Don't Lie is a great book about a teen named Sticky who loves the sport of basketball, and lives a life with mixed emotions. The beginning of the book begins with describing the Lincoln Rec, the place where Sticky plays basketball all the time. When you get past all of that description, then you will get into the good part of the story. The book gives us a history of how Sticky met his girl friend named More...
Oct 19, 2008
Nandy
rated it:
To me, this book is kind of like an urban legend.
It seemed very different compared 2 any other books I've ever read.
I didn't exactly learn anything from this book other than how to use my grammar correctly.I enjoyed what the book was about but disliked the way it was written.I feel like the way he wrote the dialouge in the book was very superfulous.I guess his rationale was to be a different author in the way he wrote his book.
It seemed very different compared 2 any other books I've ever read.
I didn't exactly learn anything from this book other than how to use my grammar correctly.I enjoyed what the book was about but disliked the way it was written.I feel like the way he wrote the dialouge in the book was very superfulous.I guess his rationale was to be a different author in the way he wrote his book.
Mar 26, 2011
Cassi aka Snow White
rated it:
It's somewhere between 4-5 stars. Let's say 4.5 just to pick a number.
Everybody talks about looking for YA books that are boy friendly. People talk about it like it's a mythical creature. Well let me tell you I have found the magical leopluradon. Or I've found an excellent book for boys.
I love basketball. I read this book to compliment all my basketball watching during the month of March. I needed a book I could get excited about, something that could pull my atten More...
Everybody talks about looking for YA books that are boy friendly. People talk about it like it's a mythical creature. Well let me tell you I have found the magical leopluradon. Or I've found an excellent book for boys.
I love basketball. I read this book to compliment all my basketball watching during the month of March. I needed a book I could get excited about, something that could pull my atten More...
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Apr 29, 2010
Ball don't lie is about this teenager sticky. The kind of genre that this book would fit is drama because it describes and shows you the types of things that happen through teenage lives. This book also tells of sticky and his basketball career. This is like a novel that you could portray youself in if your in any type of sport such as basketball. The thing that I like most about the author is how he can see and provide imagery throuh he eyes of a teenager because one of the main characters such
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Mar 30, 2009
Joshawa
rated it:
ball dont lie was a phenominal book a which sticky a teenager was trying to acheive his goal of becoming a basketball player. sticky had many things up against him such as the streets and racial predjudice. with stickys determination h is able to accomplish his dreams but it took alot of hardwork such as staying in the gym to practice on the weekends. at the same time sticky was deeply involved in the game of the streets being a freshman on a higher varsity team playing and saving a win stickys
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Feb 26, 2010
Femi
rated it:
This book was about an orphan child named Travis Reichard but goes by the nickname Sticky. In the book, Sticky goes through a series of foster parents after his birth mother, a woman named Baby commits suicide. Due to these traumatic experiences, Sticky must struggle to complete the jump into manhood by doing what he does best, play basketball. Sticky mainly plays basketball in a Santa Monica, Los Angeles gym called Lincoln Recreation (rec). He also goes through a difficult and painful journey t
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Mar 31, 2009
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.
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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.
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May 18, 2011
Javier
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Sep 30, 2011
Jacob
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Sticky, a 17 year old foster kid has suprisingly basketball skills. Being a white foster kid, living on the streets is tough but these skills give him all the "Street Cred" he will need. If you don't like sports, basketball to be specific, this book is not for you. It has great image, scenes and leaves you with great a pictureleft behind. It really seconds your thoughts about this boy from the begining to the end. Although he has made wrong decisions, he does still become what he dre
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Mar 30, 2009
Yolaina=YOLi
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Dec 02, 2010
Bri
rated it:
I think this book was pretty good. It was a tad confusing at certain parts because the book switched from an earlier point in Sticky's life to a more recent part of his life. The thing I liked the most about the novel was that you could actually feel as if you were in the book following Sticky's life. It was so realistic and sad for the most part. He went in and out of foster homes and his only outlet was playing basketball. It took a lot for him to fit in but he gained support throught some oth
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Jul 26, 2011
Jo
rated it:
Had wanted to read this one for months (to help with a project of my own) and wish I hadn't taken so long to get to it.
People fixate on the basketball angle and they either like or dislike because of it, but if you see the story from a broader perspective, it speaks much more.
I can relate to Sticky's idiosyncrasies and his (for lack of a better term) obsession with being the best at what he's good at, hoping it'll be enough to get him somewhere. There's a passion and a need to excel More...
People fixate on the basketball angle and they either like or dislike because of it, but if you see the story from a broader perspective, it speaks much more.
I can relate to Sticky's idiosyncrasies and his (for lack of a better term) obsession with being the best at what he's good at, hoping it'll be enough to get him somewhere. There's a passion and a need to excel More...
Sep 06, 2010
Freshkidrichie
rated it:
this book is definitely one of my favorite books! i was amazed at how real this book was to me. All of the struggles Sticky faces just brought me closer and closer to him. This book is about a white boy growing up in foster care and the only thing he has in his life is his basketball and a dream. My favorite part about this book was at the end when Sticky was shot in his right hand and within a matter of seconds he realized how quickly life can go and how something precious can be taken away fro
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Feb 13, 2011
Frankie
rated it:
This book is about a basketball player that has been through hard times. His dad left him and his mom died. He has this psychiatric where he has to do the same thing over and over again until he does it perfectly. There is one thing that he can do that will get him out of his hard life, basketball. Sticky lives in a very bad neighborhood, and while you read the book, u not only encounter many flash backs but you also see Sticky go on with his life and try to get to the NBA.
This is a ver More...
This is a ver More...
Jan 11, 2011
daniel
rated it:
I really did like this book it shows the struggle that one teenager has to go through and how anybody can do anything no matter how hopless it might be. This book is very good and inspriing in the beginning of the book it was really confusing because its starts off with stick's habit of oing things over and over agin. But i really am confusedd as to why the author had to include this habit in the story i do not think that it was so important to be included in the book but as the book progre
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Jun 21, 2009
Cathy
rated it:
Thanks Jen for recommending this book. Yes, it's gritty, and maybe more of a boy book than a unisex YA book, but as de la Pena's first novel, I really liked it.
Sticky has been in 4 foster homes, perhaps because he is still holding in the guilt of his mother's suicide. Either way, he feels broken inside, except when he's at Lincoln Rec playing basketball.
de la Pena once again does a good job of taking flawed characters and making the readers root for these boys turning More...
Sticky has been in 4 foster homes, perhaps because he is still holding in the guilt of his mother's suicide. Either way, he feels broken inside, except when he's at Lincoln Rec playing basketball.
de la Pena once again does a good job of taking flawed characters and making the readers root for these boys turning More...
Jan 30, 2012
Ashley
rated it:
For ENG 540.
Tough and honest and yet beautifully written, this book about a foster kid named Sticky with an extraordinary talent for basketball reads almost like poetry. De la Pena writes about basketball like a person who loves the game, in the gym and on the street, and fills his novel with the kinds of characters you can easily imagine playing pickup games on any LA court. Los Angeles itself is a living, breathing entity in this novel, both the beautiful and the ugly, and at times I simu More...
Tough and honest and yet beautifully written, this book about a foster kid named Sticky with an extraordinary talent for basketball reads almost like poetry. De la Pena writes about basketball like a person who loves the game, in the gym and on the street, and fills his novel with the kinds of characters you can easily imagine playing pickup games on any LA court. Los Angeles itself is a living, breathing entity in this novel, both the beautiful and the ugly, and at times I simu More...
May 16, 2009
Michelle
rated it: 
I picked this book up because I am trying to expand my male protagonist book collection for all those teen males in my classes. I found this book to have moments of brilliance in an otherwise messily written book. I found some of the characters to be a little too stereotypical for me to swallow and the language in parts was offensive. I also found myself, someone who can hold her own in the basketball world, wandering in the over abundance of "balling" lingo and de la Pena's pages o
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Dec 11, 2011
Sajani
rated it:
Ball Don’t Lie was skillfully crafted so the readers pieced together the story themselves. The story wasn’t presented in chronological order, but in a way that flowed very well and harmonized with the purpose of the story: to talk about Sticky. Sticky is a teenage boy who loves basketball and whose birth parents are dead, but that’s all the reader knows when they start this book. Then, the book unfolds and we learn about Sticky’s girlfriend, his living conditions, his previous foster homes, and
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Sep 24, 2011
LIzzie
rated it:
Matt de la Peña’s Ball Don’t Lie gives voices to the quiet Sticky, a 17 year -old white Southern Californian boy who bounces around foster homes. What little control Sticky has in his life, he demonstrates on the basketball court. De la Peña delivers a compelling story of this talented but troubled player and his relentless dedication to the sport. The novel’s subject matter and male lead will snag that reluctant and often allusive young male reader. But it is the author’s visceral story telling
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Jan 27, 2009
Claudia
rated it:
Sticky can't remember how he got that scar behind his ear, and won't tell anyone his 'real' name. He drifts from foster home to foster home, finally doing whatever he can to live 'down' to the expectations of others. Sticky's alone in the world, trying to make his own kind of sense...but the boy can play ball, and that's his world. His mentors at Lincoln Rec teach him how to deal with what life's given and taken away. de la Pena's prose is amazing. He's cast this novel with good guys and bad guy
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Oct 13, 2010
MsLarkin
rated it:
From a teacher perspective: Some male sports fans may relate to this book as they will possibly share Sticky's dreams. It is difficult for struggling readers as the timeline shifts often. It was interesting to see a character with OCD. It was not as well executed as it could have been and in the end I wonder what it contributed to the protagonist. Taught in 2009 after a promised visit/movie screening by the author.
On a personal note: Sadly, the author did not agree to visit the classro More...
On a personal note: Sadly, the author did not agree to visit the classro More...
Oct 29, 2007
C.
rated it:
A good young adult book about Sticky, a teenage basketball player living in foster homes in Los Angeles. Chapters go back and forth between Sticky playing streetball with a bunch of adults, Sticky's day-to-day life - focusing on time spent with his girlfriend, and flashbacks to other foster homes and times with his mother.
There was a disconnect between the chapters about playing basketball, and the chapters about Sticky's life off of the court, feeling like they could have been two se More...
There was a disconnect between the chapters about playing basketball, and the chapters about Sticky's life off of the court, feeling like they could have been two se More...
