Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Game by Walter Dean Myers


Myers, Walter Dean. Game. New York, NY: HarperTeen, 2008

 

 

                Game by Walter Dean Myers is a great fiction novel about how a basketball player named Drew grows up in a rough neighborhood and how basketball keeps him in line. Drew is an African-American basketball player that dreams of playing basketball in college and in the NBA. He is a star basketball player at his school and hopes to make a run in the playoffs this year. Drew lives with his parents and very smart little sister. The first half of the season is going great, until the coach brings in two white players to join the team. One player is from the Czech Republic and is taking over Drew’s spotlight even though he isn’t very good. Drew initially is angered that the coaches and media are focusing on these new players. Then many issues arise between the coach and Drew. He is constantly on the bench even though he is their best player and everyone knows it. Eventually Drew learns that he needs to be a team player and that Drew and these new players will need to mesh in order for them to succeed his senior season. They make the playoffs and Drew learns to become a team player. He then receives a scholarship to DePaul University and stays friends with his new teammates.

                This was a well written book but at times lacked character development and information about the characters. It was a good representation of how athletics can keep an athlete living in a rough neighborhood out of trouble. The one thing that I felt was missing was why the kid from the Czech Republic got so much attention when in the book he was described at not that good of a player. Also it was confusing where the team was at during the season as far as record wise and at what time of the year they were playing. I think the book fit in well with my project because it gave some detail on how hard some athletes have to work to get out of their community and how it can save them from dropping out of high school and keeping them out of trouble.

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