Ball Don't Lie

by Matt de la Peña

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.

Genres: Young Adult, Sports, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Basketball, Contemporary, Teen

280 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2005

About the author

Matt de la Peña is the New York Times best-selling, Newbery-medal-winning author of six young adult novels and four picture books. Matt received his MFA in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific, where he attended school on a full athletic scholarship for basketball. de la Peña currently lives in Brooklyn, NY. He teaches creative writing and visits high schools and colleges throughout the country.

Visit Matt at: mattdelapena.com

Reviews

[Cassi aka Snow White Haggard · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 attention away from the NCAA tournament. I realize this is probably not a problem most readers have. But I love basketball.

And let me tell you the main reason why I love basketball--the stories. Sports are not just muscular men bashing into each other. Sports stars are kids who grow up chasing a dream. Sometimes they're rich and white (ala Duke) but sometimes they're poor and basketball is their only shot at making something of their life (See Eric Bledsoe). Sometimes there's a player who everyone thinks should be cut, everyone complains about then he suddenly blossoms with talent. There's a reason there are so many sports movies. Sports have some of the best storylines.

Basketball is about heart and hustle, working hard to make something of your life. Sticky encompasses all those things. A foster kid who has been passed around between homes, always returned because somebody doesn't see his value. Basketball gives him value--something he's good at, something he can excel at. Sticky has a lot of heart and he devotes his life to improving his basketball skills.

This book has an excellent voice. Sticky lives a rough and tumble kind of life. He uses slang, improper grammar but the author never overdoes it. Sticky is believable and relatable and never slips into a stereotype. The use of italics rather than quotations bothered me at first, but it was a stylistic choice that I got used to it. The book does use basketball slang but I don't think you have to know that much about basketball to read the book. Probably helps if you watch some games, but it doesn't require D1 playing talent to read (for the record I'm 5 ft tall I watch basketball. I've never played it).

If you hate sports this book probably isn't for you. If you like sports then I say it's worth trying. If you can't get enough basketball like me then it's a must read.

[Sonya · Rating 3 out of 5]

I recommend Ball Don't Lie to anyone who loves basketball. They play a lot of basketball in the book. I don't like basketball very much, but I found the book interesting because the main character Sticky is interesting. His childhood was shaped by poverty, his unstable mother, and the many foster homes he lived in after his mother died. We see the effects of his childhood on the life he lives now as a teenager and the choices he makes, some of which are stupid. I found the plot difficult to follow at times; the setting jumps back and forth between the past and the present.

[Brayden · Rating 5 out of 5]

this is a very good book if you are looking for a basketball thrill. The author does a very good job with keeping the reader intertained by using all the things that go on in sticky´s life. There are lots of ups and downs in this book.

[Claude's Bookzone · Rating 3 out of 5]

CW: suicide, drugs, attempted sexual assault, homophobic slurs

[George · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, this is Geo Storm with ESPN. I will be interviewing basketball star Sticky from the book, Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña. Sticky is a seventeen-year-old boy who is on his way to playing high-level division one basketball and even the pros, but has experienced many unimaginable obstacles in his way. Let's see what he has to say.

Geo Storm: What is your actual real name and where would you say your happy place is?
Sticky: My name is Travis Reichard and my happy place is the Lincoln Rec Center. I go to the rec center almost every day.

Geo Storm: Where did the origin of the name Sticky come from and why do you keep the nickname?
Sticky: My mom always called me Sticky. She used to say my little sticky boy despite my name bein’ Travis. I always keep my name as Sticky because Baby, who is my mom, was dyin’ in front of my eyes. She was yellin’ STICKY! I checked the bathroom and she was dead. I couldn’t get there on time. I felt ashamed, really upset. Her last words were “Sticky” so I will always be called Sticky.

Geo Storm: Wow. Describe Baby to me.
Sticky: Baby is the most influential person in my life. Baby is my mom, who has always cared for me in every way possible when she was alive. She always provided for me in every way possible. She is still my motivation to this day.

Geo Storm: If you do not mind me asking, when Baby died, who did you live with?
Sticky: When Baby died I was put into foster care. I was brought into many families. The families ranged from rich to poor. Whenever I was brought back to the foster home, I felt disappointed in myself and upset. It felt the same cycle would repeat over and over again. I made many mistakes with many families that caused me to get sent back, however. My first foster lady Francine would have been my mom if she was not diagnosed with cancer. Despite my struggles with families, the foster home is like a family to me.

Geo Storm: So, you said you go to the Lincoln Rec Center every day. Why do you love going to the Lincoln Rec Center every day?
Sticky: I love goin’ to the Lincoln Center because of two reasons. The first reason would be basketball is my life. Without basketball, I would not be alive right now straight like that. The second reason is the guys at the rec center are like my family. We go at each other on the court, but off the court, we all treat each other like brothers. For example, I am closest with Dante because he always has my back when someone goes at me.

Geo Storm: How is the Lincoln Rec Center a “different world?”
Sticky: The Lincoln rec center is a place where homeless people sleep at and where rights are earned. I had to ball out for my name to be Sticky, my own name. The rec center is dark, filthy, old, and a slip n’ slide. The rec center has no women and has all types of characters and music. You have the regulars, the old heads, the young bloods, the drunkies, the jokers who get rolled out of the gym, and even some NBA cats come and play. The rec center contains all types of hoopers from playin like Steph Curry to the Shaqs. The rec center is an unbelievable place and it feels like a movie.

Geo Storm: How do you measure success for yourself?
Sticky: For me to be successful I need to make the NBA. I just wanna play ball. I think God put me on this earth to play ball. I know I can’t be good without God. I want to have a fat bank account, a big house with Annie, and three BMWs. I can get all of this just by playin’ ball. My success will be to make the NBA.

Geo Storm: Who is Anh-thu and describe your relationship with her?
Sticky: Anh-thu is my girlfriend and my closest friend. She has been with me through my successes and my extremely down moments. I met her at Millers, a clothin’ shop. We both started talkin’ and ended up hangin with each other. She has always supported me through my whole basketball journey so I will bringin her on my way up and stay loyal to her.

Geo Storm: How would you describe yourself mentally?
Sticky: I would describe myself as locked in. After all the bad incidents I put myself in, I have been locked in on one goal which is goin’ to the league. I focus on three things, basketball, Anh-thu, and God.

Geo Storm: Why did you start loving basketball so much?
Sticky: One, I love the aspect of the game. The competitiveness and freedom of the game. I am always myself out there which is why I am good. I treat every day like it's the rec center playin’ against my ogs. But I first started lovin basketball when I was introduced to it at foster care. I wanted to get better at basketball as soon as I started playin’. I always wanted to be good at something that I was introduced to.

I would like to thank Sticky for setting aside time to be interviewed. If you want to learn more information about Sticky’s story, read Ball Don't Lie by Matt de la Peña. I highly recommend setting aside time to read this book.

[Richie Partington · Rating 5 out of 5]

06 August 2005 BALL DON'T LIE by Matt de la Pena, Random House/Delacorte, September 2005, ISBN: 0-385-73232-5, Libr. ISBN: 0-385-90258-1

"Baby don't cry, you got to keep your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up {you'll be alright}
Baby don't cry, you got to keep your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up {baby don't cry}
Baby don't cry, you got to keep your head up
Even when the road is hard, never give up {baby baby baby}
Baby don't cry, you got to keep your head up {no}
Even when the road is hard, never give up {no-ohhh}"
--2Pac/Outlawz, Baby Don't Cry (Keep Ya Head Up II)

"I could tell you a lot about this game....
"How a dark gym like Lincoln Rec is a different world. Full of theft and dunk, smooth jumpers and fragile egos. Full of its own funky politics and stratification. Music bleeding out of old rattling speakers from open to close. Old rhythm and blues. Stevie Wonder. Aretha Franklin. Funk. Motown. Marvin Gaye. Sometimes Jimmy gets talked into hard-core rap on weekends. Or Trey sneaks in his three-year-old demo tape.
"Always music.
"There are fat rats that scurry through the lane on game point. Beady eyes on the man with the ball. There are roaches congregating under the bleachers.
"There is so much dust on the slick floor that sometimes guys will go to stop and slide right out of the gym. Every time there's a break in the action, ten guys put palm to sole for grip.
"There are a hundred different ways of talking and a thousand uses of the word motherfucker.
"There are no women.
"In the winter there are so many homeless bodies spread out across court two you can hardly see the floor. There are leaks when it rains. Rusted pots are set out to collect heavy drops. Sometimes a guy will track in mud and everybody throws a fit. Jimmy sets out a twenty-five-dollar heater and everybody puts their hands up to it before they play."

Court one at Lincoln Rec is the epicenter of Sticky's life in L.A. and of his dreams for the future. Lincoln Rec is a constant for him, a positive one, unlike that series of light-colored minivans that have repeatedly arrived at the group home over the years carrying foster parents who pick him up, make him big promises about a real home...promises that for various reasons always go up in smoke and leave him, once again, chillin' back at the group home.

Court one is where he, a seventeen-year-old white boy, builds his skills playing an extremely physical style of pickup basketball with an assortment of tough, older black guys. On court one, where either you are seriously in the zone or you're spending all day with your butt in the bleachers, Sticky is determined to play and win.

As Dante, a former pro player and a regular at Lincoln Rec explains to him, Sticky has started the "life being a race" thing "three stones back." Not only has Sticky had to deal with the failings of his drug-addicted, prostitute mother and, later, with those repeated rejections by foster parents, but he also has "that mental thing, where you gotta do stupid stuff over and over and over." The depictions of Sticky's frequent ritualistic behaviors, revealing his struggles with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, are agonizing. But, ironically, it is that same compulsion that keeps him so focused on constantly perfecting his skills, whether they be related to basketball or to other, less noble, pursuits.

"Won't you help me girl
Just as soon as you can?"
--Al Green

There's the bright high school girl with the beautiful green eyes, Anh-thu, who works in Miller's Outpost. Sticky meets her one day when he drops in there to steal some new pants. "Annie" seems able to see through the hard shell to the real Sticky.

The story bounces back and forth from Lincoln Rec to scenes of Sticky's early days with his mother, the different experiences with foster families, playing J.V. hoops at school, hanging out partying with the guys, and being with Anh-thu. All together, there must be a hundred different characters we meet, and each one is unique and memorable. A number of those characters are homeless, some sleeping on cardboard on court two, others in a public toilet somewhere. Sticky's world is on the underbelly side of L.A. And regularly we get glimpses of the "other world" in the form of faceless businessmen who come walking in on their lunch break to watch what's going on and then return to their offices to tell their co-workers about the games, the fights, and, undoubtedly, about the skinny white kid with the moves.
"Rob's weight is on the back of his heels on defense. Waiting.
"The face rattles off truth in situations like this. Fear flickering in Rob's wide eyes: Get too close and Sticky sticks a jumper in his eye. Too many possibilities when the man with the ball gets to say which way and when, how fast and for how long. And you can multiply all that by ten if the guy can play. Get busted on in front of everybody. Get dragged all game by the skinny white kid everybody talks about.
"All the loudmouths on the sideline are at full attention.
"Sticky jab-steps right and pulls back, keeps his dribble.
"Rob retreats.
"Sticky is: through the legs, around the back, playing hoops with a yo-yo. Walk the dawg when everybody calls for a trick. Hold the ball too long.
"He is: stolen Nike shoes, stolen mesh shorts, ankle socks. Back and forth handling the ball, knees bent, his eyes in Rob's eyes. Piss off the old purists who cry for a return to fundamentals. The ones who've lost so much vision they're blind to the dance of it all. The spin move like a skirt lifting pirouette on callaused toes. The dip. Jump shot splashing through the net like a perfect dismount."

A damaged white teenager, a bunch of tough black "ballers," a dark rec center in L.A., and the girl with the eyes come together to make this gritty, urban story a powerful, rhythmic read. The thrumming beats and the sweat dripping out from between the pages also place author Matt de la Pena squarely in contention for Rookie of the Year honors.

Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.com
BudNotBuddy@aol.com
Moderator http://groups.yahoo.com/group/middle_... http://slisweb.sjsu.edu/people/facult...

[Logan]

I give Ball Don't Lie a 2.5-5 stars because the story line was kinda unrealistic.The book had some good action and I liked the flashbacks to when he got shot and went back to his childhood.Some other things i liked were that it wasn't a series of books threw his life and you have to read all them to find out what happens. It's a book that goes through his life in one solid book.
Some dislikes from Ball Don’t Lie were the story line was kinda unrealistic in some ways.He gets shot at a young age and that would be hard to come back from and be a superstar like he became. Another one is he steals jeans from a store and gets caught and has to spend his birthday in jail and usually if you have something on your record you will not get interest by college.Some of the spots in the book were kind of bland like the beginning was so it was hard to read at the beginning and keep reading.

[Nancy]

Cliff flipped through this book and saw enough negative content to not read it.

[Caelan McDonough · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ball Don’t Lie is a book about a seventeen year old boy named Sticky. Sticky is poor and has no place to call home but the streets. He is an outsider, people think he doesn’t belong because he is white. The only thing that could be his ticket out is basketball. The author of this book is Matt De la Peña, I would recommend this book to people who are the underdogs or want to have a chance and be inspired. This book is probably only appropriate for people ages 14 and up. I really enjoyed this book.

[Jackson Lewis]

I think that Ball don't lie was a good book because I enjoy reading about basketball and its also my favorite sport. I give this book a 8 out of 10 stars because it was very interesting to read but I also didn't understand some of the parts of the book and I also had to read it over again.

[Marc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Grd. 9 Up “Sorry bro. It just wasn’t gonna work out”
Ball Don’t Lie by Matt De La Pena is story that revolves around the life of Sticky, a kid who really never had a home. After losing his mother as a child, he bounced around various foster homes who would later abandon him. Sticky is very quiet, but his malicious and reckless behavior has cost him the trust of his foster families and has made him a juvenile. Though he was white, he never really saw himself that way. He was always surrounded by his black pears, the only ones who actually care about him. Life for Sticky was rough and his only way of finding peace was basketball. Not only was basketball his passion, he was really good at it. He’s the best player on his JV and Varsity team and has received numerous college letters that were begging him to play for them. To him, basketball was his only way of getting out. Matt De La Pena’s novel bounces from the past to the present, revealing the hardships and struggles of Sticky’s life while growing up. The story itself may sound like a basketball story, but it’s not. In fact, readers don’t really need any background knowledge of the sport. With little competitive basketball moments, the majority of the story shares the depressing life of Sticky. Experiencing childhood deaths, abandonment, and crime, readers experience how it’s like to be not so fortunate. De La Pena’s masterpiece will make readers want to continue reading the book. The suspense, action, and drama has made this story mean more than basketball.

[Tyree · Rating 5 out of 5]

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 dosen't need to. Throughtout school we had conversations, and in those conversations he explained to me that even though you love basketball, you can also feel the way in class as if you are on the courts playing your game. I was really fascinated so I started to practice that before school ended but it really didn't show because it was a few more days till school ends.
I recommend this book to High school students because High school is the year you decide on your future. And the only way that comes true is to work hard at it. So all you have to do is work hard. So school comes first and your career will follow up. In addition most students want to be in the NBA, I do to but even though basketball can mean everything, basketball will have to come after school work.
I'll give this book 5 stars because it taught me a unforgetable lesson which is school comes before basketball no no matter how much you enjoy basketball.

[Bobby Balzano · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ball Don't lie is a great book, and compared to the other basketball books It is much better. This book is a lot more than just basketball it is a story about life and how one kid pushed through many hard times. The beginning shows how life is different for a foster child and how much harder life is without the love from family and friends. One main idea though is life is never easy. The books shows how life is never easy for anyone yet alone a foster child. Sticky the foster child pushes on and learned this valuable lesson which he then uses in life going on. Secondly, you don't always get what you want. Sticky learned that if you want something you have to fight for it, whatever it is. So really it is a great book but, if you don't like it the reason would be that you might not like how basketball and life go hand in hand. However, you should know that everything in life somehow goes hand in hand.

[Daouda Berete · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sticky the protagonist of the book Ball Don't Lie is a tall 6'3 basketball player. Untill he was six he lived with his mother that was a drug addict and would leave him on the street to beg for money and give it to her so she can buy her drugs. But its stoped when he started living with a foster parent and everything was going great untill she was diagnosed with cancer. After that he went to a foster home. He loved basketball but he had OCD that cause him to do actions over and over again untill it felt right thats why he always tying and untying his shoe laces. He goes the recreational center in his neighborhood and plays with his friends. He just doesn't play with his friends on the street he also plays for his school and he won a scholarship to San Diego State University. I really liked this book because its shows that you can be from any aspect of life and still achieve your goal.

[Shaeley Santiago · Rating 3 out of 5]

I almost stopped reading a few chapters into the story because there were quite a few characters, it was mostly about basketball, and the chapters jump around in the setting so that the reader has to figure out the when/where. I kept reading, though, because I wanted to know more about Sticky and see how his girlfriend fit into the story.

Sticky has had a rough life, but now that he's found some skill at basketball and developed it by playing with the motley crew at the Lincoln Rec Center gym, college coaches are showing interest in him. However, will it be enough to give Sticky a chance at a better life, or will he mess things up before he finishes high school?

[Mason · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ball Don’t Lie” by Matt de la Pena is about a boy named Sticky who is a foster kid and loves to play ball. The setting in this novel takes place in a newly built local rec center named the Lincoln Rec. All though Sticky is very passionate about the game and playing ball, he in a way has an alter-ego that is tested later on in the book.
Over all this is a very interesting story and it really draws you in as a reader to where you can’t stop. I love how the author constantly kept me thinking through the whole book with the many counts of repetition used. I would recommend this book to anyone who is remotely interested in basketball and or just a really enticing book.

[Nandy · Rating 4 out of 5]

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.

[Brenda Kahn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I finally got around to reading de la Peña's debut and I'm sorry it took so long.

7/10 - rereading with my ears - narrated by the amazing Dion Graham.

7/12 - Finished and liked it as much if not more thanks to Graham's narration - the staccato beat of the basketball action and trash talk; the smooth, silkiness with Annie; the abrupt changes in Sticky's demeanor. Great stuff.

[Devin Bishop · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was pretty average. The only interesting thing this book had going for it was the fact that the main character sticky had an interesting background; being a foster child and the only white guy in town that plays ball and dominates the whole town. Other than the main character everything else was really boring.

[Alison · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is not as well written as the author's later Mexican White Boy. I personally did not care a lot or grow close to the main character and his friends. It's just fair quality book, but decent light book for middle school boys interested in basketball and who could get interested in reading other better books in general thorough it.

[Yolaina=YOLi · Rating 3 out of 5]

I dont learn anything and for me the book was very boring and i like no finish because i dont know what happend with sticky baby .
so i dont like the book

[Edward Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Impressive debut.

[Dan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sticky's story of tribulations and triumphs on and off the basketball court is one that I won't soon forget. Matt de la Pena's other books continue to rise up my list of books I plan to read next.

[Edward · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. A bit difficult getting through the basketball jargon if you're not familiar with it but the characters are likable and Sticky is a touching main character.

[Cory Purcell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Ball Don't Lie

Margaret Thatcher once said, “You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”Ball Don’t Lie, by Matt De La Peña is a fiction book published in 2007. Ball Don’t Lie focuses on the history and culture of the game of basketball. Matt De La Peña does an amazing job expressing how you should try your hardest no matter what. The book mainly centers around a young teenage boy named Sticky who faces many obstacles. Sticky is a foster child, who bounces back and forth between foster homes trying to find his way out of the ghetto. I highly recommend this book as it shows that no matter what obstacles you face, hard work will pay off. This book expresses the true meaning of hard work and the results that can come from it.

Sticky is a young teenage boy from Venice California, who faces many obstacles. Sticky is a beat around the head foster child with no place to call home but the streets. Sticky suffers from OCD, an obsessive compulsive disorder which creates a feeling of embarrassment, as it makes him feel left out from the pack. Sticky is a young boy living in a world that he seems to not belong in as he started out life far behind others, making it seem impossible to become successful. But Sticky can play when it comes to basketball. With his great talent and passion for the game, it might be his only way out of the ghetto.

The tone in Ball Don’t Lie changes throughout the book on many different occasions. At the beginning of the book, the tone is gritty as Sticky faces the reality of the ghetto while many obstacles come his way. As the story progresses the tone shifts significantly once Sticky starts to feel hope. While Sticky starts to ignore all of the outside negativity he finally realizes his talent. Sticky starts to realize that with his talent he can make it out of the ghetto, this changes the tone as he starts to feel motivated towards his goal. With Sticky’s motivation he is able to block out all the negative adversity from the ghetto as it will allow him to focus on his passion, the game of basketball.

Sticky uses his passion for basketball as a driving force to escape the harsh realities of the ghetto. Despite facing numerous obstacles, his determination to succeed on the court fuels his motivation. I can relate to this as I used motivation from the baseball field to help me escape negativity from others. With Sticky’s love for the game of basketball it provides him a purpose to keep going. Sticky’s commitment and passion for basketball helps him block out adversity as he tries to achieve his dreams. Sticky’s story is very inspirational and similar to mine as I used my love and passion for baseball to block out everyone's negativity. With my passion and hope for the game of baseball I am able to overcome many obstacles due to the hard work and dedication I put in. This truly shows that no matter what challenges you face, if you work hard towards your passion achieving dreams is possible.

If you like fiction books that portray motivation, I highly recommend this book for you. You will be taken on a journey with a young teenage boy named Sticky, who is trying to become successful and make it out of the ghetto. This book personally inspired me as it shows me that no matter what obstacles you face, with enough motivation you can overcome anything. This book teaches the lesson of hard work and motivation, as you should never listen to what others have to say or their opinions. By focusing on yourself you can accomplish anything as long as you put your mind to it.

[Shelby Sanders · Rating 5 out of 5]

Obviously, I had to read this book because it was about basketball! The story is about a 16 year old boy Travis Reichard, who goes by the name of Sticky, and has been in and out of the foster care system, and the one place he can feel at home is playing basketball at the basketball courts at Lincoln Rec. Playing ball at Lincoln Rec, he is the only white guy but all these men that come to play pick up ball every day feel like family to him. Even though he is white, he feels like he can relate and fit better with this black crowd of ballers. He was put in the foster care system after his mom committed suicide, and now he has obsessive compulsive disorder and keeps everything inside, stemmed from witnessing this. He is a troubled teen growing up in the ghetto of Los Angeles, with basketball as his one passion and dream to get out. He also meets a girl Anh-thu, when trying to shoplift at the store she works at. She and his crew of homies at Lincoln Rec, with the Daunte acting as a sort of father figure to Sticky, help him see who he really is and finally open up.

I thought this was a very true account and perspective of kids growing up on the streets of Los Angeles playing basketball, living in the ghetto and kids from the foster care system and what their life may be like. It also had a nice perspective on OCD and mental illness. It dealt with heavy issues like foster care, teenage pregnancy, homelessness, gangs, drug dealers, and suicide. I liked how the narrative was interspersed with flashbacks to Sticky's childhood with his mom and her boyfriend, and the four foster homes he went to. I also loved the moment between Daunte and Sticky, and how Daunte tells him why they steal and rob, and the race-dynamic in America.

"No matter how you look at it this ain't no righteous world, the laws we operate under are set up by those who have everything in order to protect themselves from those who have nothing. When I was coming up on these same west-side streets, I was one of the ones who had nothing, just the same as you. So it was up to me to find ways to acquire the basic things that other people already had. That was my reality and I understood the situation."

"See that wall over there? In America life is like a race to that wall. That's the way I see it. If you born white and got money then you start the race way up here, ahead of everybody...But say you ain't white and you ain't rich, say you poor and black, or you mexican, Puerto rican, well you don't get to go to that nice private school, that expensive college, in fact you may not have enough food to eat a balanced meal every night...in this case you starting the race of life waaaaay back here. Only a fool would think that someone who starts here has the same opportunities as cats starting at the first stone...And let me tell you something, if you some scrubby white boy who has been moved in and out of foster homes since you was little then you off the charts, boy.

You da nigga to boy. And we supposed to worry about rules. What rules? The ones set up to keep us all the way back here?...I'm successful now, but when I was coming up man, I'm going to tell you right now I did what I had to do."-Daunte
I can't wait to read more books by Matt de la Pena--his books provide a lot of diversity in YA lit.

[Brandon Yenshaw · Rating 4 out of 5]

In California, around 60,000 children are put into foster care each year, and only some of them find permanent homes. There are also some kids who have gone through three, four, even five different homes until they end up in a final home. The Ball Don’t Lie, by Matt de la Peña, portrays the same situation with the main character, Sticky.

Ball Don’t Lie is a sport and drama book about Sticky, a foster kid that feels like he doesn’t quite fit in. Where he does fit in though, is a place of his own world: basketball. Sticky’s life practically revolves around basketball. He feels that his life remains at the Lincoln Rec gym where he plays basketball with many intense streetballers that Sticky could truly consider as friends.

As Sticky is living present day life of striving in basketball and his relationship with his girlfriend, he narrates his story at a very young age of how he started with no foster home, to going through so many foster homes to finally find his current home at his current age of seventeen.

Sticky is “A bag full of highlights”, as many characters describe him as.

Sticky does have a problem of crime, which really serves as an obstacle for him to be able to make it into college basketball and make his greatest attempts to the NBA.

Fortunately for Sticky, he doesn’t have to make all of this happen on his own. As he is striving for greatness, he makes amazing brotherly relationships with the guys at Lincoln Rec who are always there for him and be there to truly make him feel that push to be the greatest he could be. He also has his relationship with his girlfriend An-thu, which also makes him know that what he wants to do with basketball in his life isn’t for nothing, it’s truly for the people in his life. Sticky even shares the relationships he had with the many characters who took him in as foster homes, only to spit him back out.

In the world we live in, this seems so wrong to continuously bring the foster kid back and to realize how much that child had gone through. In reality, that often happened in the world during that time and still sometimes happens to foster children today.

With all of the pop culture included in Ball Don’t Lie, Matt de la Peña puts in so much detail to set the scene and write the speech from characters accurate to the time period.

Ball Don’t Lie was an exceptional book about perseverance through hard times and courage to perform. Although, there was a factor that set this book back from being perfect. There were unanswered questions and events that were expected to be resolved later in the book, but instead was not mentioned again.

Although this book seems depressing, it truly isn’t. Ball Don’t Lie may show multiple sad features in it, but the book does give the fast paced action of action packed basketball and even humor from the guys in Lincoln Rec, which really does lighten the mood of the story.

This book is recommended for people that are teenagers and older. It is not recommended for younger audiences because of inappropriate language, sexual and drug content, and racial slurs.
Overall, Ball Don’t Lie is a very great underdog story of a boy that started with absolutely nothing, who went through many tough times in his early life, then to find his amazing talent of basketball and use it to his full advantage to make an attempt to make it somewhere in this world.

[David Grandbois · Rating 3 out of 5]

“Ball Don’t Lie” is a confusing, but an entertaining book. A boy, Sticky, goes though his life trying to work his way up to the NBA. The times keeps switching back from Sticky’s childhood to where he is now. He plays street ball with a bunch of other kids who all call him Sticky even though his birth name is Travis. Sticky is a coaster kid who goes through multiple families trying to find the home that was right for him. Multiple families brought him back sooner than later and sticky never seemed to find the right family for him.

Sticky is a shy kid and was always shy, it isn’t like something traumatic happened that would curse him for the rest of eternity, he was just always a shy kid. He never talked much and one of the first foster families brought him into the car, which happened numerous times, trying to bond or find if he was the right fit for THEIR family. And numerous times he would not listen and stare of into space thinking about something.

Sticky has this “unofficial, unknown disorder” where everything he does he has to do it again if it “doesn’t feel right”. Like one time he walked into the shower and his foot didn’t feel right stepping into the stall. He didn’t want to get out, he was trying to resist doing it over again. But of course he got out trying to “fix” it or something. This is a big part in the plot of the story considering something bad that happened when he was a kid.

I know I said nothing traumatizing happened that caused him to be shy and caused him to have this “disorder”, because he was doing these things before the event happened between his mother and him. His mom used to call him a name, but when she started screaming “Sticky” he knew something was seriously wrong. He tried to get up but it didn’t feel right. Reading this made me mad because everyone who reads will be screaming “Just go check on her” but it’s not that easy for anybody with a disorder just to forget about it and move on to something else. So he keeps on trying it redo the motion but gets it right too late.


He found his mom, baby, laying in the tub with blood all around her. The cops came due to a neighbor who called because they heard frantic screaming. It doesn’t give us the full details on what happened to Sticky, his mom, or anything else but I think we can all assume she didn’t make it and that’s why Sticky’s in the foster homes in the first place. On to another part of the book is Sticky’s girlfriend, Ann-Thu, who had her birthday one day. Sticky didn’t have any cash because he is generally poor. He is used to stealing so he planned to steal money again.

He kept stealing money from people until he found this one guy he threatened him and the guy gave Sticky the money, but as the guy ran he said “You have the money, but I’m just telling you, you don’t know me”. Later sticky counts the money and it adds up to $400. “That’s not right” he thinks so he keeps re-counting and re-counting until the guy that sticky robbed shows up with his buddies and a gun. In the end, the get into a brawl and sticky gets shot in the hand. This book definitely confused at the beginning, but I slowly started picking up the plot. It perfectly portrays a foster kid and is overall good book but I give it a 3.5/5 stars.

[Narmi]

If I were to rate just the first ⅓ of the book, I would give that part 2 out of 5 stars mostly because of how it didnt hook me on in the beggining . The characters are Ty Lewis a college football player ready to get drafted to the NFL with a lot of dedication for the sport. The way the author tells the story was not very clear in my point of view because he had alot of hidden meanins in the book that made it harder to understand and i had to search up that meaming or ask someone for it. The readers are effectively introduced to the conflict of him in school and his life outside of school cause its starts of with him in a difficult spot on the field . And my favorite part of this section was when he proved he coaches wrong because everybody laughed at him because he slipped and went out there without cleats.
For the second ⅓ of the book, I would rate it 4 out of 5 stars mostly because of its rising action and its plot twists . In this middle section of the book, Ty Lewis was faced with one of his friends suiciding himself in front of him. The characters are Uncle Gus A maneger of a store and a well repect ma of the city (just like Atticus). The way the author tells the story was very clear and interesting and so attaching because its makes you apreicate so much but so little you have and it makes you think of other peoples lives and the impact one little thing that could happen. And my favorite part of this section was when Uncle Gus tries to siucide himself because i never thought that such a happy man could have the most tragic life and with alot of sorrow.
Finally, in the last ⅓ of the book, I would give it a 4 out of 5 stars simply because it wasnt the ending I was expecting for. When I get towards the end of a book, I expect the author to make a impact with the reader but i felt like it more for himself because it was very deep but wasnt on key but this author kept me hooked all the way of how he just kept going with the book. In the end, Ty made the NFL and was a succeful man but I FElt that it didnt have to end with Uncle Gus’s death. My favorite part of this ending was when Ty gave his speech at his funeral. If I could change one thing about the way the author ended this book it would be to add a happy ending because then the reader would then have a positive mindset after reading this book cause when I read the ending I was shook but satisfied.
After reading this book, I have grown as a reader because now I can see why people tell me to pay attention more cause im not th eonly one. It is clear that the author is trying to send a message with his book as well, and I believe that message is a story of trying to understand and dont assume about anything. I agree with this message because I assumed that he was going to save Uncle Gus was going to save Ty. In conclusion, I would recommend this book for my peers.

[William Bryson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read is called “Ball Don't Lie” by Matt de la Pena. I give it 4.5 stars. This book is fictional but the story line can happen in real life.

I like how Matt De La Pena's theme is about coming to age.
For example, he says “ He knows he can’t keep running from his past if he wants to have a future”( Pena 8 ).
By saying this, it shows that the narrator is saying in life as a human you need to face your past so you can move on and grow as a person. The narrator was saying this about the main character Sticky who had a hard life and lets his emotions get the best of him.

I like how the author brings up the crisis of sticky getting caught stealing.
For instance, Sticky is at the store and decides to steal a bracelet for his girlfriend. Sticky says “I'm halfway to the door when the lady behind the counter says “Hey” and I freeze, like someone slapped me. I turned around, and she was looking right at me, her hand pointing at my pocket where the bracelet was hanging” ( Pena 163 ).
With this crisis happening, Sticky changes his life around after this and starts to reflect on all of his actions that he has done. He becomes a better person, becomes more civilized, and stops stealing.

I love how the author talks about and describes imagery, especially as a basketball player I can really picture it and smell it.
In addition he says “ The gym smells like sweat and rubber, the kind of smell that sticks to your skin and clothes”( Pena 78).
By saying this, It makes you think and picture what is happening when you walk into that gym. It makes you start to think of that smell of sweat.

I kinda liked how Donte was characterized as a static character, I feel like he should have tried to have a bigger impact.
Therefore in the beginning of the book Sticky introduces Donte by saying “Dante is always there sitting in the same spot giving the same advice”(Pena 13 ). Then near the end he always sees Donte and says “Dante never changes, always the same old guy with the same old stories”(Pena 189).
By those quotes it's talking about how Donte was the same person from the beginning of the book and the end. He didn't evolve to be a bigger person, he was just someone who always sat outside the rec center and talked all day about the same stuff.

I like how the author uses irony in this book.
For example, Sticky says “ I'm trying to be a good person, but everytime i turn around, I'm doing something worse than the last thing I did”( Pena 98 ).
By this being said, it means that Sticky says he wants to be a good person but his actions speak louder than words. He also knows that he is a bad person and isn't really trying is best because all he is doing is bad.