This book made me so glad that I am a girl. I grew up playing AAU basketball in tournaments all over the nation, and I attended some recruiting camps after receiving letters from colleges in middle school like these kids in the book, but neither my more talented friends, nor I ever faced the crazy pressures that these boys did. Shoe companies were not lining up to take advantage of girl basketball players, and for that, I am so thankful. The free gear and the money that was thrown at the coaches ruined any altruistic motives they might have had in helping the kids. This story is heartbreaking, and I spent the whole time with my mouth agape, not believing that the grassroots basketball machine is actually legal. And the parents . . . some of those parents need to be grabbed by the shoulders and shaken until they wake up and see what is going on around them.

This book contains some detailed descriptions of game-play that would probably not be interesting to non-basketball fans. However, the majority of the book is not about the sport but about the kids, parents and coaches.