Amity Middle School Orange Book Blog

Read reviews by an avid young adult book enthusiast.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Box Out

Basketball enthusiasts will surely enjoy John Coy’s novel entitled Box Out.

Imagine being a sophomore in high school and being moved up to play on the varsity basketball team due to a team mate’s injury. Six-foot-tall Liam Bergstrom has the height to garner rebounds like the senior player he has replaced. What Liam doesn’t have is the experience to play at this level. He must learn techniques from the varsity coach—Coach Kloss.
Prime for Liam to learn is the technique called box out—“to position your body between an opposing player and the basket in order to get a rebound.”

When Darius Buckner, another sophomore and defensive star player quits the varsity team after Liam’s first varsity game, Liam takes notice. Darius is probably the best aggressive player on the team. Without him, will the team make the playoffs?
Another dilemma catches Liam off guard. Unlike his junior varsity coach, Coach Kloss insists on praying before the start of teach game. In fact, players are called upon to lead the prayers. When Liam realizes that not everyone on the team is comfortable with the Christian nature of the prayers, he begins to question whether the coach is violating separation of church and state.

To add to Liam’s stress of trying to play catch-up on the varsity team and being conflicted about the coach’s methods, Liam’s girlfriend MacKenzie is on a student exchange program in France for the semester.
Will Liam stay on the team? Will they advance to the playoffs? Will his coach keep his job? Will MacKenzie stay committed to Liam? Read this play-by-play basketball novel to find out.

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