Shot Clock by Caron Butler

The Hook: 

Dante loved basketball and he spent most of his time on the court practicing with his good buddy, Tony. Dante was so good that he was even ranked the 2nd best high school basketball player in the country. All of that changes when Dante was shot and killed by a police officer who mistook him for someone else. The police officer is back on the street and the community is shaken to the core especially Tony the boy Dante was always practicing with. He is devastated. Tony tries to make the basketball team, hoping to honor Dante, but he does not make the cut. The coach asks him to be the statistician instead because he is good at math. A basketball statistician studies the team and the competition to see what they are good at and where they can improve. Although Tony is disappointed to not be a player, he takes the job and ends up doing an excellent job. It helps that the coach’s cute daughter is a statistician too! 

In the meantime, the neighborhood is rallying together to get the police officer off the job and in jail for what he did to Dante. Dante’s little brother, Terry, is not doing well at all. He is understandably angry about what happened to his brother. He quits the basketball team, starts hanging out with a rough bunch of kids and even gets sent to juvie for a time. How is it that Terry gets thrown in jail and the police officer who shot and killed Dante is still on the streets? Will the community be able to right this injustice? You will have to read the book to find out! 

This book is in our library. It is also in Sora and Axis 360 as an eBook. It is 8 AR points. 

My Thoughts and Recommendations (Careful! There Could Be Spoilers): 
I really liked this book! It had a lot of basketball terminology and ways to improve the game that somewhat went over my head, (not being a basketball expert) but basketball fans will love it. Even if you are not a big basketball fan, this engaging story moves along quickly and is very well-written.  

I liked that Tony did not make the team and he had to swallow his pride and be the statistician. Sometimes we fall short of our goals and have to work a harder to achieve them. At first, Tony was upset and was not going to take the job, but he worked through his feelings and gave it a try. He ended up enjoying it and became an important part of the team. The team saw Tony’s role as valuable and they respected him for it.  

Terry was also a well-written character. Seeing his perspective and struggles to cope after his brother’s death helped develop empathy and understanding. The story is inspirational in that the characters come together as a team and then unite with their community to bring justice to this tragic situation. It showed that reality can be sad, but with the support of loved ones it can also be filled with hope.  

I recommend this for grades 6th-8th grades. 4.8 stars.