Slam! By Walter Dean Meyers

Slam! by Walter Dean Meyers
Scholastic Paperbacks May 1, 2008

Gregory “Slam” Harris just wants to play basketball and everything seems to be getting in his way.  He has great friends and a stable place in his high school when his family has to move and everything changes.  After the move Slam has to attend Latimer High School.  This separates him from his friends from his old school.  Latimer has much higher academic standards than his old school which comes between him and being able to do what he does best, basketball.  But at this new school even that is not how he wants it to be.  His coach and his new teammates do not like his game.  They say he has a bad attitude and he won’t get game time unless that changes.  As he adjusts to all of the changes of moving to a new school, his past comes back to haunt him.  His best friend from his old school, Ice, appears to be dealing drugs since he now has a lot of cash to spend.  To top it all off, his grandmother is sick.  All of these things threaten to overwhelm Slam as he tries to navigate his life.  Will Slam be able to take his team to the championship?  Can he keep his personal life under control?

Slam is a great book from middle school readers.  The rapid fire prose is engaging and makes the reader wish the book was not a mere 288 pages.  This book is a “slam dunk” from young male readers who are interested in sports.  The book has a fast pace and the adversity that Slam goes through is something anyone can relate to.  While I might not recommend reading this book as a class, I would highly recommend this as a great option for independent reading.