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4-6
Narrator Tony Washington's friend Dante Jones, the number-two-ranked high-school basketball player in the country, was shot and killed by the police on the kids' neighborhood court. Now Tony, who is still very much in mourning, is determined to make the under-fourteen AAU team to honor Dante and to live out his own hoop dreams. When he doesn't make the team, he feels even more lost and ready to give up: "Who even cares about a silly game throwing a stupid ball into a dumb net?" But Coach James finds a way for math-nerd Tony to be on the team: in the role of statistician. The book is divided into four quarters, and descriptions of Tony's analytics and sports action sequences are enhanced by former NBA standout Butler's deep knowledge of the game. Off the court, too, players have worldview-expanding experiences through Coach's guidance and visits to an art museum at an HBCU, the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, Disney World, and the ocean. Though heavy on sports metaphors for life, the story is notable for its consideration of racism, justice, inequality, and trauma along with exciting basketball action and memorable characters.
Reviewer: Dean Schneider
| Horn Book Magazine Issue:
November, 2022
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4-6
Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats series.
These slim volumes demonstrate how statistics drive decision-making for professional basketball and football teams, aiding players, coaches, and fans to better understand wins and losses. References to specific athletes and their performances abound. The book design is uninteresting, but color photographs, tables, and graphs appear throughout, helping to clarify the information. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats titles: Basketball Is a Numbers Game and Football Is a Numbers Game.
(4)
4-6
Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats series.
These slim volumes demonstrate how statistics drive decision-making for professional basketball and football teams, aiding players, coaches, and fans to better understand wins and losses. References to specific athletes and their performances abound. The book design is uninteresting, but color photographs, tables, and graphs appear throughout, helping to clarify the information. Reading list. Glos., ind. Review covers these Sports Illustrated Kids: Know the Stats titles: Basketball Is a Numbers Game and Football Is a Numbers Game.
(3)
4-6
Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories series.
For young sports enthusiasts with an interest in numbers, these two books identify old and new statistical concepts in each sport; explain their potential importance; and personalize this analysis with vignettes of pro athletes who have set game, season, and career records. The numbers-focused narratives are supplemented by action photos and many charts with stats. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories titles: Basketball Stats and the Stories Behind Them and Football Stats and the Stories Behind Them.
(3)
4-6
Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories series.
For young sports enthusiasts with an interest in numbers, these two books identify old and new statistical concepts in each sport; explain their potential importance; and personalize this analysis with vignettes of pro athletes who have set game, season, and career records. The numbers-focused narratives are supplemented by action photos and many charts with stats. Reading list, websites. Glos., ind. Review covers the following Sports Illustrated Kids: Sports Stats and Stories titles: Basketball Stats and the Stories Behind Them and Football Stats and the Stories Behind Them.
262 pp.
| Little
| October, 2014
|
TradeISBN 978-0-316-24981-2$17.00
|
EbookISBN 978-0-316-24976-8
(3)
4-6
Seventh grader Mitch Sloan envisions his move to a new town as the chance to reinvent himself and escape the bullying he's previously experienced. Though he's not athletic, he knows sports and statistics and starts a lucrative betting ring. The school authorities don't approve, and even his new best friend questions his morality. Funny, thought-provoking, and as sporty as it is geeky.
64 pp.
| Enslow
| October, 2011
|
LibraryISBN 978-0-7660-3942-1$27.93
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4-6
Math Smarts! series.
Each of these dense, textbooklike volumes, purportedly intended to let students "learn...at your own speed," includes twenty-eight subtopics on the title math concept. Even with some overlap (geometry/trigonometry) the organization is clear, and helpful graphics and embedded definitions are plentiful. The level varies greatly, from simple word problems to complex statistics. There are five other fall 2011 books in this series. Websites. Bib., ind. Review covers these Math Smarts! titles: Geometry Smarts!, Percent and Ratio Smarts!, Data, Graphing, and Statistics Smarts!, Problem Solving and Word Problem Smarts!, and Trigonometry Smarts!.
64 pp.
| Enslow
| November, 2004
|
LibraryISBN 0-7660-2567-5$22.60
(4)
YA
Math Success series.
These math primers are chattier than traditional textbooks ("In real life, problems are not always as obvious as they are in math books"), but they are no less informative. Wingard-Nelson uses straightforward examples to walk the reader through the basics in each subject. Meanwhile, the small cartoony images of kids saying things such as "HEY! That was easy!" often seem like halfhearted and unnecessary attempts to add interest. Reading list, websites. Ind. Review covers these Math Success titles: Algebra I and Algebra II, Data, Graphing, and Statistics, Problem Solving and Word Problems, and Trigonometry.
(4)
YA
Science Fair Success series.
These collections of experiments for experienced science enthusiasts vary in focus and quality. Statistics deserves praise for its detailed instruction on data analysis, and Robot contains good explanations of engineering design. Motion, however, suffers from too many topics. Black-and-white illustrations include tables, schematics, and photos of completed projects. Bib., ind. [Review covers these Science Fair Success titles: Science Fair Success Using Newton's Laws of Motion; Using Statistics in Science Projects, Internet Enhanced, and How to Build Your Own Prize-Winning Robot.]