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Learn moreHigh school senior point guard Jonas Dolan is on the fast track to a basketball career until an unthinkable choice puts his future on the line.
Levi was simple, like a child. It was the best thing about him, and it was the worst, too.
When high school senior Jonas moves to Seattle, he is glad to meet Levi, a nice, soft-spoken guy and fellow basketball player. Suspense builds like a slow drumbeat as readers start to smell a rat in Ryan Hartwell, a charismatic basketball coach and sexual predator. When Levi reluctantly tells Jonas that Hartwell abused him, Jonas has to decide whether he should risk his future career to report the coach.
Pitch-perfect basketball plays, well-developed characters, and fine storytelling make this heartbreaking psychological sports novel a slam dunk.
Carl Deuker is a celebrated author of “top-flight sports writing matched to uncommonly perceptive coming-of-age stories” (Kirkus Reviews). He describes his younger self as a classic second-stringer: “I was too slow and too short for basketball; I was too small for football, a little too chicken to hang in there against the best fastballs. So, by my senior year the only sport I was still playing was golf.” He was a teacher for many years in the Seattle area, where he now lives with his wife.
carldeuker.ag-sites.net/bio.htm
Charlie Thurston has appeared on stages across the country, including Trinity Repertory Company, Arden Theatre Company, Baltimore Center Stage, Intiman Theater, Chautauqua Theater Company, and Riverside Theatre. Charlie holds an MFA in acting from Brown University/Trinity Rep.
Reviews
“Deuker creates a textured cast of parents, coaches, and teens and deftly handles themes of personal ethics, teamwork, burgeoning friendships, and coping with an abusive adult…Deuker elevates his sports novel to the level of a literary work, inviting readers to empathize with Jonas and use his experiences to consider their own values.”
“After his dad loses his job, basketball point guard Jonas Dolan starts over with a new team…Jonas’ friendship with Levi, a sensitive, generous, loyal, devout Christian from Arkansas, gives the novel a strong, emotional center. The basketball action is well-drawn, and Jonas’ frustration at Knecht’s style of play is palpable…A largely well-executed exploration of team spirit, friendship, and the devastating impact of untrustworthy adults.”
“The novel includes descriptions of many basketball plays and strategies, which should make this book particularly appealing to fans of the game…Once Jonas (and readers) figure out what’s going on with Coach Hartwell, the pace quickens, and Jonas’s struggle to do the right thing intensifies.”
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