Basketball {Or Something Like It}

by Nora Raleigh Baskin

The action, drama, and competitive spirit on a basketball court are captured as newcomer Jeremy, all-star Hank, athletically-challenged Nathan, and envious Anabel struggle with their own personal dilemmas in order to find where they belong on the team--and in life as well.

Genres: Sports, Childrens, Middle Grade, Contemporary

176 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 2005

About the author

I am seriously an open book. I've been writing semi-autiobiographical fiction since I was in 6th grade (1972) then, in 2001, Little, Brown published my first middle grade novel, about my life in 6th grade! titled "What Every Girl (except me) Knows." Twenty years and fifteen books later, that still, pretty much sums things up.

Reviews

[Bailey Turner · Rating 4 out of 5]

Well this book is about a middle school basketball team and they had to try out and they had some horrible kids try out but most of the kids who couldn't play basketball did and they thought they would lose every game but towards the end of the book they were all tied up and then they lot one of the sisters play and she helped the win there game.

[Lesley · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have been not only reading recently-published novels and ARCs but have begun reading novels that I somehow missed, even with an extensive middle-school classroom library.
According to a 2017 CNN report, in response to a Facebook post by Geno Auriemma, coach of the University of Connecticut women's basketball team, where Auriemma said that recruiting "enthusiastic kids is harder than it's ever been," plenty of people spoke about how parents are causing a lot of the problems in the game. "Parents living vicariously through their kids, pushing them too hard, too soon. Too many games, too much pressure and not enough fun," one commenter on Facebook said.
Nora Raleigh Baskin’s 2005 novel Basketball (or Something Like It) is about basketball, parents, coaches, pressure to play, pressure to not play, but most of all it is about friendship. The novel focuses on 4 sixth graders:
Hank wishes his parents would “stop talking about basketball or baseball or whatever season and whatever sport they felt Hank should be getting more playing time in, playing a better position” (p. 2);
Nathan wants to play basketball even though his parents do not want him to play because of what basketball did to his uncle and even though he is not the good player everyone assumes, being black, is would be;
Jeremy is the new kid who came to live with his grandmother after being abandoned at his father’s his latest ex-girlfriend’s. Jeremy is used to street basketball, poverty, and making plans to leave; and
Anabel is not a basketball player. Actually, Anabel is quite a good basketball player, practicing with, and being dragged to, games with her brother. In her family “Basketball came before everything” (p.11)—at least for her brother and father.
These young adolescents become part of a world where adults determine if they play, when they play, and how they play until they bond and take their fates into their own hands. The final act of heroism isn’t a feat of basketball prowess but an act of friendship.
Great book for reluctant male and female readers and sports enthusiasts. An idea would be to pair with The Crossover, Planet Middle School, Center Court Sting, True Legend, and/or Hoops—possibly during March Madness.

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

While this book is about a youth basketball traveling team and there is a big game at the end with a dramatic moment to determine the outcome, that is not the point of this book. The real focus of the plot is the role of the parents in the selection and management of the team. They are generally spiteful, annoying, demanding, and at times threatening. There are several coaches, some of which know how to play team sports while others simply want to blame others for their lack of understanding how basketball is played.
There are many primary characters, the most among the equals is Jeremy, a recent transfer to North Bridge in the suburbs from the inner city. It is obvious to all that he is the best player during the tryouts and an outstanding point guard. However, there is another point guard with the proper parental connections, so Jeremy is relegated to the bench for demonstrating on the court that he is the better player. At the end, Jeremy is able to enter the big game through the sacrifices of his friend and everything turns out as it should be.
I have served as a volunteer coach of youth sports for something like fifteen seasons. Boys and girls soccer, boys and mixed basketball, tee ball and softball. The descriptions of parents in this book is accurate and perhaps a bit understated. When I started coaching AYSO soccer, the teams were placed on opposite sides of the field with the parents behind their respective teams. Two years later, the rules were changed so that both teams were on one side and the parents were on the other. My last season, there was a training session where the topic was how to handle the situation if you were physically assaulted by a parent. The fact that this book accurately depicts how parents often act does not change that it is truly a sad way to perform in front of children.

[Selina Ly · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a really good books for everyone who like basketball. This book is about the North Bridge middle school basketball. The book show us how the team win. The team is including the basketball players with various of circumstances. They have changed alot after the tournament.

[Miranda · Rating 3 out of 5]

2.5 stars.

Not much happens, and the resolution and team-togetherness factor happens way too quickly to be believable - though of course readers know where the story is going and it does come to a satisfactory ending.

S-N, L-M, V-L

[sade eunice · Rating 3 out of 5]

I come to a realization that every book I read I put my self into it. Which makes it more interesting. I currently play basketball at a high school which makes it easier for me to connect.

[Xander Percel]

WAS A GOOD BOOK

[Jalen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you really like basketball?Well if you do,then you should read the book "Basketball(or something like it).So if you love basketball then I recommend you this book.The genre of this book is realistic fiction.My opinion of this book is that it is a fantastic book because since I like basketball a lot, it is very interesting and it gives a lot of good details about basketball.

The setting of my book takes place at a lot of different kids houses because there on the basketball team and at basketball courts.Some of the kids does not want to even play basketball,but there parents are forcing them to.Major characters in this book are mainly all of the boys that are on the basketball team.The type of conflict of my book is person vs self because its all of the boys going against each other.

This book is in first person and I know this because there is only one person talking about this book.A major event in this book is when

[Nate Bruns · Rating 4 out of 5]

I rated this book a 4 star for many reasons. One reason why I gave it a 4 star is because the book was interesting through the whole book. Also, this book was about basketball and I love to play basketball,so I liked the plot of it about basketball. What happened is there are all these different guys that don't want to play basketball but there parents make them play in the spring league for the 6th grade team. Next, the team goes through many coaches and they finally find the perfect coach to coach them. The North Bridge team has never won a game before. Will they? I would definitely recommend this book to people because it is a very good book and it is about sports and most people like sports.

[Jana · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book looks at middle school basketball from the perspective of 4 different kids. I wasn't sure I would like it, but I got hooked into it almost right away. The writing style is very accessible, even for someone with little knowledge or experience with middle school sports. I even learned a few things about the sport. That's a little bit of coarse language in the book, but I believe that mature 5th graders would be able to handle it. I know several of my students that will likely enjoy this book.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having been around brothers who played basketball, an ex-husband who coached basketball, and now children who play basketball, I could really relate to this story. It made me think about the pressure we put on children to be "the best" when all they really want is to have fun. I thoroughly enjoyed this book!

[Jose Espinoza]

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[Teresa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great exploration of how parents can ruin kid's enjoyment of an activity--with solid basketball action. Told through various POV's--each character has his or her own story. Love this author in general.

[Karen · Rating 4 out of 5]

My son's 7th grade basketball team is reading this book for a team/parents book discussion. Since this book is about stressed out student athletes and their sports crazy parents, it should make for an interesting discussion.

[Alaczia]

i learned that if u try hard in a sport you cant play..u can show people how u improve a lot...like me i could play ball for nothing in the world..but now i'v improve very much..

[Brenden Snow]

GREAT BOOK

[Courtney W · Rating 4 out of 5]

i love this book!! so detailed and i have alot of imagery in this book

[Kyrie Martin]

jkb