The Basketball Game
The Basketball Game
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Publisher's Hardcover ©2022--
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Firefly Books
Just the Series: The National Film Board of Canada   

Series and Publisher: The National Film Board of Canada   

Annotation: Warning: This book, which is based on a true story, has depictions of anti-Semitism and contains racial stereotypes and hateful language. It is intended for an audience of 12 years and older. Healing wounds and changing worldviews, all though a simple game of basketball. Nine-year-old Hart is attending Jewish summer camp for the first time. As if that isn't awkward enough, this summer the camp is going to play host to some very particular visitors, though the kids at camp don't know that yet.
 
Reviews: 1
Catalog Number: #357643
Format: Publisher's Hardcover
Special Formats: Graphic Novel Graphic Novel
Publisher: Firefly Books
Copyright Date: 2022
Edition Date: 2022 Release Date: 09/01/22
Pages: 86 pages
ISBN: 0-228-10391-6
ISBN 13: 978-0-228-10391-2
Dewey: Fic
LCCN: 2022934049
Dimensions: 23 cm.
Language: English
Reviews:
Kirkus Reviews

In this graphic autobiographical short, a boy recalls being the lesson in somebody else's teachable moment.It's 1983, and Hart, a White Jewish Alberta boy, is away at Jewish summer camp. It's kind of gross and scary, but Hart is grateful there are comic books, cute girls, and Shabbat services. He agrees to play in an intramural basketball game-only realizing the identity of his opponents when it's too late to back out. Recently the grown-ups in nearby Eckville realized the kids taking social studies from a certain teacher were parroting antisemitic conspiracy theories and Holocaust denial. Jim Keegstra, the teacher responsible, was fired, and now the director of Hart's summer camp is hosting a day of socializing, including a picnic and basketball game, in hopes of forging bonds between the communities. In Hart's memory, the Keegstra kids are massive, terrifying, and look much older-and the first thing he hears from one of them is an antisemitic remark. The illustrations imagine the game as a stylized, colorful comic book–style event involving the defeat of skinheads, Nazis, and the KKK on the basketball court. As the counselors intended, there's also a teachable moment for everyone. The simple, cartoonish illustrations include splashes of color to convey indelible sensory memories. Some of the art is abstract and oversimplified to the point of being unclear, however.A brief and accessible entry point to learning about the ease of spreading ignorant hatred. (content warning, author's note, map, historical note, discussion questions, glossary) (Graphic memoir. 9-13)

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Kirkus Reviews
Reading Level: 4.8
Interest Level: 5-9

Warning: This book, which is based on a true story, has depictions of anti-Semitism and contains racial stereotypes and hateful language. It is intended for an audience of 12 years and older.

Healing wounds and changing worldviews, all though a simple game of basketball.

Nine-year-old Hart is attending Jewish summer camp for the first time. As if that isn't awkward enough, this summer the camp is going to play host to some very particular visitors, though the kids at camp don't know that yet.

What everyone else knows is that in a nearby small town called Eckville, a teacher by the name of Jim Keegstra was fired for spreading anti-Semitic views in his classroom, where he told his students that the Holocaust was a hoax. To make matters worse, he's also the nearby town's mayor.

To help combat Keegstra's lies the Eckville and Jewish communities decide that the best path forward is to invite the students taught by Keegstra to the summer camp for a day of fun and fellowship.

What transpires in this graphic memoir by filmmaker Hart Snider is a basketball game for all-time.

Adapted from the NFB's short animation of the same name, The Basketball Game is a poignant tale of the power of community as a means to rise above hatred and bigotry. In the end, as is recognized by the kids playing the basketball game, we're all in this together.


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