Hoop Dreams

by Julia Wilder Banta

Hope and Harriet can do anything and everything together through the strength of their friendship, until one day.

Hope and Harriet’s friendship is made of whispered secrets, giggles, and dreams. They pretend an imaginary world in which they can do anything and everything together.

Until one day at the park, Harriet is asked to join a basketball team, but Hope can only watch from her wheelchair.

Through the strength and determination of friendship, Hope and Harriet find a way to always do anything and everything together.

Hoop Dreams is a social-emotional learning story. It teaches readers the power of friendship and compassion through the diversities of race (Hope is Thai) and disability. Hope and Harriet express, individually and through friendship, the layers of loyalty, acceptance, perseverance, and teamwork. This story also highlights the abilities of those with disabilities.

Special thanks to Holt International Children’s Services.

36 pages, Hardcover

Published March 3, 2026

Reviews

[Claire Noland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Besties, Hope and Harriet, do everything together until Harriet is asked to join a basketball team. Unfortunately, Hope can’t join her because she is in a wheelchair. Hope sits on the sidelines and cheers for her friend but misses sharing this sport with Harriet.
At home she tries to shoot hoops but fails miserably. With her brother’s encouragement, Hope tries and tries again, eventually dribbling, shooting, and makin a basket. With perseverance and hard work, Hope’s skills improve. When Harriet discovers Hope’s ability, she invites her to join the team. Then, when Hope joins a wheelchair basketball team, Harriet joins her on the court. Once again, they can do everything together.
At its heart, this is a story of friendship and dreams coming true told through the lens of overcoming adversity. Though Hope is frustrated and upset, she challenges herself to learn to play a new sport and discovers that being in a wheelchair doesn’t stop her from becoming an athlete. The positive and upbeat text presents the sport of wheelchair basketball but doesn’t gloss over the difficulty of learning to play while in a wheelchair. The illustrations are bright and cheerful showing a multi-ethnic group of characters. This moving book is a celebration of accepting and embracing differences. It is a perfect book to read aloud and offers a great starting point for discussions on differing abilities filling a much needed gap in current children's books.

[Carol · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a lovely story! I can’t wait to give a copy of Hoop Dreams to my granddaughter!

[Lynne Marie · Rating 4 out of 5]

An important and inspiring story!