Rez Ball by Byron Graves

Rez Ball by Byron Graves. Heartdrum, 2023. 9780063160378 






Rating: 1-5 (5 is an excellent or a Starred review) 3



Format : Hardcover



Genre :  Sports, realistic fiction



What did you like about the book? Tre is juggling many things: grief over his older brother who died in an accident; his passion for basketball; the challenges of prejudice against Native Americans, and a crush on a new girl in school. Tre’s older brother was the best player on their reservation high school team, and Tre feels helpless to comfort his parents or to live up to his brother’s reputation. When Tre’s dream of playing varsity basketball unexpectedly comes true, he is determined that his team become the first Native team to make it to the Minnesota state championship. Can he do it? Graves excels at describing Tre’s training and keeps the action in the basketball games exciting and suspenseful.  This is a nice coming of age story with plenty of basketball action and an anti-alcohol message. Author Byron Graves is Ojibwe and was born and raised on the Red Lake Indian Reservation.



Anything you didn’t like about it? This book is more tell than show, so the emotion doesn’t resonate deeply. The storyline is also predictable, but I don’t think it will deter teens from liking it.



To whom would you recommend this book?  Teens who like sports stories; fans of Paul Volponi, Mike Lupica, and Carl Deuker



Who should buy this book? Middle schools, high schools, public libraries



Where would you shelve it? YA fiction



Should we (librarians/readers) put this on the top of our “to read” piles? No



Reviewer’s Name, Library (or school), City and State: Rachel Chiel Katz, Schechter Boston, Newton, MA



Date of review: October 6, 2023