"I think God put me here to play ball," says 17-year-old Sticky. Shuffled between foster homes since childhood, the skinny, white teen devotes himself to playing basketball at Lincoln Rec, a gritty Los Angeles gym, where he has found a family among the serious players, mostly black men. In colloquial language filled with the words and rhythms of hip hop and the street, Pena's debut tells a riveting story about Sticky's struggle to secure a college basketball scholarship and deepen his relationship with his girlfriend. The disjointed narrative, which loops between past and present, may slow a few readers. Others, though, will see the nonlinear story as a reflection of Sticky's own internal journey as he faces violent childhood tragedies, his numbed emotions, and his sometimes-compulsive behavior (he repeats actions such as shoe-tying until they feel right). Teens will be strongly affected by the unforgettable, distinctly male voice; the thrilling, unusually detailed basketball action; and the questions about race, love, self-worth, and what it means to build a life without advantages.

Seventeen-year-old Sticky, abused foster kid, finds refuge playing basketball. He dreams of playing for the pros, but he faces many obstacles. As a white boy, Sticky also confronts the problems facing an outsider. This raw, realistic urban story offers an affecting portrait of an alienated young man searching for success and belonging.

<p>Travis Reichard only answers to the name Stick. He hangs out at Lincoln Park basketball court in Los Angeles, which is practically a character in itself. It's the only place that feels like home and where his skills give him some street cred. Shuffled from one foster home to another after his mother's suicide, Stick fits with the rough camaraderie of the other hoopsters, even if some are homeless. Stick's history gradually emerges as his reflections and memories surface. The rhythm of dribble, jump shot and dunk punctuates the narrative, resulting in a staccato effect that mimics a fast-paced hoops game. Suspense builds as Stick's life unfolds with its possibilities of mayhem and disaster. Will the advice of old hoops players, homeless friends and the beautiful Anh-thu, a girlfriend both loyal and ignorant about his life, be powerful enough to overcome the horrors from the past and the complete lack of support or guidance up until now? Basketball has an urban fan base, and de la PeAa does an excellent job of combining the streets with the sport. Gritty and mesmerizing. (Fiction. YA)</p>

De la Peña recounts one eventful day in the life of basketball phenom Sticky Reichard, 17, with flashbacks that fill in his horrific childhood. Since age seven, Sticky's ricocheted between group and foster homes before settling in Venice Beach, Calif. Along the way, he picked up a passion for basketball, and his obsessive-compulsive habits enhance his game—he practices constantly. Despite a demonstrated lack of interest in school (a freshman-year report card contains "five Fs and a C in PE"), a college scholarship is on the horizon, and so is a healthy relationship with "super-pretty Vietnamese girl," Anh-thu. But can Sticky overcome his past—the cigarette-burn scars from his mother's pimp, his mother's violent death, the succession of indifferent caretakers? The group home director tells him he's "a good person," but Sticky's morals allow for compulsive shoplifting, and he celebrates a big win with mindless vandalism that lands him in jail. It's easy to feel sorry for him but he's tough to like. The author's depiction of the foster care system seems over-the-top (the first would-be parent dies of cancer, the next doesn't even provide a bed, a third catches his daughter with Sticky unclothed). Still, readers will find the portrait of this obsessive-compulsive's rituals both on and off the court fascinating. The prose moves with the rhythm of a bouncing basketball and those who don't mind mixing their sports stories with some true grit may find themselves hypnotized by Sticky's grim saga. Ages 14-up. <EMPHASIS TYPE=""ITALIC"">(Sept.)

Gr 9 Up-"That white boy can ball-.He don't play like no regular white boy." Sticky, 17, has spent his life being abused by pimps living with his prostitute mother, bouncing from one foster home to another, and living on the street between failed placements. But he's developed incredible hoop skills that have given him considerable social standing among his mostly black peers. And he gets a girlfriend named Anh-thu, who loves him and wants to help him reach his dreams. Sticky sees basketball as his way out of his dead-end life and is determined to make the right moves in the game to attain his goal. But he doesn't quite know how to make the right moves in his life, until a bad decision leads him to confront dark secrets. Jumping back and forth in time, this first novel has a unique narrative voice that mixes street lingo, basketball jargon, and trash talk to tell Sticky's sorry saga from a variety of viewpoints. Although readers who are not familiar with basketball may have trouble following some of the detailed game action, even they will be involved in the teen's at once depressing and inspiring story. Sticky is a true original, and de la Pe-a has skillfully brought him to life.-Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Earning instant street cred with its opening scene of Sticky (real name Travis Reichard) preparing to hoop in a pickup game, this book delivers a story of inner-city desperation, frustration, and ultimately respect. Placed with and then removed from four foster caretakers, sixteen-year-old Sticky only feels at home on the sweat-stained court of the Lincoln Rec, a Los Angeles mecca for streetballers. The Rec games, dominated by a cast of older and tough "ballers" who give no quarter, force white-boy Sticky (his race makes him a minority) to come hard with his "A-game" or spend hours waiting on the sidelines. Present-time chapters show Sticky balling at the Rec, making a triumphant debut with the high school varsity in the playoffs, and solidifying his relationship with his girlfriend Anh-thu. Alternating chapters reflect back to his early life with his prostitute mother and subsequent horrifying foster home disasters that shaped Sticky's distrust of authority and explain his quirky obsessive-compulsive habits. Gliding through inner-city poverty and hopelessness, Sticky has no qualms about boosting merchandise, smoking reefer, or drinking 40s. But he needs big bucks to legitimately buy a bracelet for Anh-thu and makes the wrong decision to rob a pedestrian. Marked by inner-city slang and profanity, the dialogue and pacing of the story has a hip-hop rhythm much like change-of-pace moves performed on city basketball courts. Stunningly realistic, this book will hook older readers, especially urban teen males, and they will share it with friends.-Rollie Welch.