Looking for a game? Here's your guided tour of the country's best pickup basketball courts, from the blacktops of Brooklyn to the asphalt of Anchorage to the gyms of Jackson, Mississippi. It's all inside: where the pros play, the most scenic runs in the land, and a ranking of the top five courts. ø Chris Ballard and three other former college players piled into a used Chevy van and traveled thirty-one thousand miles in seven months, playing at over a thousand courts in 166 cities in forty-eight states. This is the story of their roundball road trip and a guide to the places, people, and communities they encountered. ø More than a travel guide, Hoops Nation is "a celebration of the game of basketball as it is played in America." It includes guides to streetball fashion, the lingo of the courts, the etiquette of the pickup world, the tricks of old-guy basketball, and tips for the dunking impaired. Also included are profiles of playground legends and dispatches from the legions of basketball lifers who populate the country's courts. ø This book can tell you where they?re running today, all over America. Who?s got next?

In this collection of short essays, Brian Doyle presents a compelling account of a life lived playing, watching, loving, and coaching basketball. He recounts his passion for the gyms, the playgrounds, the sounds and scents, the camaraderie, the fierce competition, the anticipation and exhaustion, and even some of the injuries.

May tells the absorbing story of the hopes and struggles of one high school basketball team, the Northeast High School Knights in Northeast, Georgia, and the powerful role that a basketball team can play in keeping young African American kids straight, away from street-life, focused on completing high school, and possibly even attending college.

Ten-year-old James tries to hold his own and prove himself on the basketball court when the older boys finally ask him to join them in a game. Full color. Copyright © Libri GmbH. All rights reserved.

Taking over a rowdy gym class right before winter vacation is not something James Naismith wants to do at all. The last two teachers of this class quit in frustration. The students—a bunch of energetic young men—are bored with all the regular games and activities. Naismith needs something new, exciting, and fast to keep the class happy—or someone's going to get hurt. Saving this class is going to take a genius. Discover the true story of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.

An ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults New Bonus Content: -Q&A with Walter Dean Myers -Q&A with screenwriter John Ballard -Teaser chapter from On a Clear Day -Excerpt from 145th Street All eyes are on seventeen-year-old Lonnie Jackson while he practices with his team for a city-wide basketball Tournament of Champions. His coach, Cal, knows Lonnie has what it takes to be a pro basketball player, but warns him about giving in to the pressure. Cal knows because he, too, once had the chance—but sold out. As the tournament nears, Lonnie learns that some heavy bettors want Cal to keep him on the bench so that the team will lose the championship. As the last seconds of the game tick away, Lonnie and Cal must make a decision. Are they willing to blow the chance of a lifetime?

Hooper Ellen Hill—known as Hoop—is a teenager with dreams of basketball. She’s six foot five, obsessed with basketball trivia, and has also been diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome. Although she has trouble socializing and communicating, Hoop is more observant than most. And though her family views her as the one with special needs, she sees the oddities in the colorful characters that surround her. Hoop’s Truth: A Novella paints a series of contemporary portraits of the people in Hoop’s life. She portrays a medley of characters who journey through the worlds of basketball, promiscuity, depression, and love, facing a variety of difficulties from both internal and external sources. After each short tale, Hoop offers her own commentary—astute observations filled with commonsense wisdom and lessons to be learned. Full of relatable characters and intriguing personal tales, this novella presents character vignettes exploring the lives of the family members of the teenage narrator.

Trey's team thinks Griffin, their newest teammate, is a rat - and they want Trey to set a trap to see where his loyalties lie.

A multilayered memoir of basketball, family, home, love, and race, this book tells of the author's love for a game he can no longer play.