Starred Review for Kirkus Reviews (Fri May 01 00:00:00 CDT 2020)

Two promising Texas basketball players navigate the ups and downs of first love.For 11th grade star players Carli and Rex, it's love at first sight when he blows her a kiss from the free-throw line as she watches the game on the sidelines. Carli believes in magic and looks for signs in everyday life-like Rex's kiss-to help her make decisions. Who should she live with after her parents' divorce? What should she do with her future-one that won't include basketball, which she knows will disappoint her father and teammates? Rex is a nature lover like his mother, who died giving birth to him. His father is distant, and inside their big, lonely house, Rex dreams of the NBA. Carli and Rex's roller-coaster romance is rife with betrayal, heartbreak, grief, and family secrets. As narrators of alternating chapters, they are funny, smart, and unflinchingly candid. Well-written dialogue and fine attention to detail reveal Tamani's strong insight into Gen Z life. The intensity and depth of Carli and Rex's love story are conveyed as deftly as the high-energy play-by-plays in their basketball games. Tamani crafts layers of complexity around falling in love, making hard choices, and dealing with loss-on and off the court-in this deeply intimate story of two talented, sensitive teens. Carli, Rex, and their relatives and friends are black; Rex's teammates are white.A superb, complex romance full of heart, humor, and unforgettable characters. (Fiction. 13-18)

Horn Book

When Houston high school basketball star Rex Carrington blows his customary kiss to his late mother, similarly talented Carli mistakenly thinks it's meant for her -- right before she passes out from a gallbladder attack. Rex rushes to her side, and from there, sparks fly on and off the court. The alternating narrations by Carli and Rex thrust readers into the intensity of first love, dreams of bright futures, and the hope of happily ever after. However, the romance has some bumps in the road as the realities of each of their lives encroach upon their relationship: Carli grapples with her parents' separation and her family's expectations about her future in basketball, while Rex struggles to connect with his emotionally distant father. This romance stands out because of its sensitive Black characters (Rex is allowed to cry), who revel in their naive teenage notions of love and experience all the volatility of adolescence. Monique Harris

Kirkus Reviews (Fri Oct 04 00:00:00 CDT 2024)

Two promising Texas basketball players navigate the ups and downs of first love.For 11th grade star players Carli and Rex, it's love at first sight when he blows her a kiss from the free-throw line as she watches the game on the sidelines. Carli believes in magic and looks for signs in everyday life-like Rex's kiss-to help her make decisions. Who should she live with after her parents' divorce? What should she do with her future-one that won't include basketball, which she knows will disappoint her father and teammates? Rex is a nature lover like his mother, who died giving birth to him. His father is distant, and inside their big, lonely house, Rex dreams of the NBA. Carli and Rex's roller-coaster romance is rife with betrayal, heartbreak, grief, and family secrets. As narrators of alternating chapters, they are funny, smart, and unflinchingly candid. Well-written dialogue and fine attention to detail reveal Tamani's strong insight into Gen Z life. The intensity and depth of Carli and Rex's love story are conveyed as deftly as the high-energy play-by-plays in their basketball games. Tamani crafts layers of complexity around falling in love, making hard choices, and dealing with loss-on and off the court-in this deeply intimate story of two talented, sensitive teens. Carli, Rex, and their relatives and friends are black; Rex's teammates are white.A superb, complex romance full of heart, humor, and unforgettable characters. (Fiction. 13-18)

Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)

Texas high school junior basketball star Rex Carrington has a tradition at the free-throw line: blowing a kiss to his mother, who died giving birth to him. On the day his kiss happens to land on 16-year-old Carli, another basketball champion from another school, she passes out, he catches her, and the two form a bond that eventually turns into love. Through poetic, economic prose and alternating points of view, Tamani (Calling My Name) evokes myriad emotions: Rex associates his father-s neglect with blame for Rex-s mother-s death; Carli wants to quit basketball and is devastated over her parents- recent separation. Though complexities threaten the romance (misunderstandings, family secrets, Rex-s frustrations, and Carli-s reluctance to be open), most prominently shown is its passion (-It-s like we-re two trees secretly sharing nutrients underground, two stars orbiting around all the things there-s no language for-). Readers will be easily swept away by this tale exploring the hearts and souls of two emotionally vulnerable athletes. Ages 13-up. Agent: Jennifer Carlson, Dunow, Carlson & Lerner Literary. (June)