Like Robert Burleigh's Hoops a Booklist Editors' Choice 97, this sweeps readers into the excitement of a basketball game, but this time the court is on an inner-city street and the text isn't a story in poetry but a collection comprising rhythmical prose that has the flavor of rap, inspirational musings, and concrete poetry. Design is an integral part of the whole. Display type, boldface, italics, and small and large fonts make words leap from the pages. The effect is sometimes too busy, with a purposeful rather than a natural feel. However, the mix usually works, adding energy and drama as narrators look longingly on from the sidelines, anxiously await a pass, or justify an off game with a woeful I didn't wear my right headband. With too many feet and not enough faces, the sepia-tone photos aren't exceptionally varied, but, blurry with movement, they still catch the frenzied energy of African American players at home on the courts--feet flying, arms arching, hoops swishing. Best of all, Smith's love of the game shines through on every page. (Reviewed March 15, 1999)

Stories, poems, and reflections range from a bittersweet memory of playing dad "one-on-one" to older players' humorous ramblings on modern sneakers. Fonts and format are playfully manipulated in this picture book, often creating concrete images on the page. Artistic sepia-toned photographs of "street-ball" games accompany the hip-hop basketball rhythms.

<p>Mixing poetry, memoir, short fiction, and photography, Smith pays a fast-break tribute to the pleasures and pains of b-ball, from being benched (" 'Please Put Me In, Coach!!' "); to playing "Hot Like Fire," on the way to scoring 65 points; remembering "the time when my dad could no longer play one on one; or how a new kid, "Meek," proved himself on the court, once he was given a chance. Figures in the photos are blurred, clipped, or shot from behind, giving the illustrations an arty look, and the author is fond to excess of text in multiple colors and typefaces, but for range of experience and immediacy of feeling, this blows past Robert Burleigh's Hoops (1997). Smith closes with another tribute, to the African-American athletes, musicians, and artists who have meant the most to him. (Poetry. 8-11)</p>

Gr 5 Up--Through unusual fonts and splashes of color, the design of this book mirrors the exuberant nature of this American pastime. Like the game, the poems are quick, energetic, and highly rhythmic, and the prose pieces, personal and passionate. The author/photographer reveals his unabashed love of the game and insight into the personal dynamics of the sport in each double-page spread. The pieces are both varied and accessible. In the humorous narrative "No Sole," different voices lecture a player complaining about how much his new shoes hurt. Each narrator remembers how it was "when I was your age," from no high-tech shoes, to no new shoes, to no shoes at all. In `"Please Put Me In, Coach!!"' a boy's pleading voice promises "not to hog," and "I'll listen to you now" if only he can go back in the game. "School's in Session" and "The Sweetest Roll" are gracefully shaped poems that will inspire students to create their own selections. The concluding piece, "Everything I Need to Know in Life, I Learned from Basketball," will surely find its way onto locker-room and gymnasium walls. All of the superb dual-toned photographs depict young men. Once students and teachers become aware of this title, it will bounce right off the shelves.--Lee Bock, Glenbrook Elementary School, Pulaski, WI