Gladiators meet at the Cage, a fenced-in basketball court at West 4th in Manhattan, one of the legendary sites of playground ball. Sportswriter Rick Telander titled his classic basketball story Heaven Is a Playground, and that's certainly the description of the Cage, where ballers come "wearing attitude like / baggy shorts," and high-flying slams, rainbows and double dunks offer aerial thrills as good as fireworks. Here are the players, the mentors, the used-to-bes and the wannabes, the scouts, the filmmakers, the ghosts and the legends. Some of the best contemporary writers for teens—Walter Dean Myers, Robert Lipsyte, Rita Williams-Garcia, Joseph Bruchac and others—contribute to this novel in linked short stories, in which the players weave their way through one day at the Cage, and Charles R. Smith ties the volume together with rap poems celebrating the place, the people and the throbbing energy of the game—as Walt Whitman might have had he been a baller. Superb stories by writers who know and love the game; an ode to the show. (Linked short stories. 14 & up)

Gr 8 Up-Some of the most distinguished names in YA literature are represented in this collection of linked stories set on a celebrated New York City playground basketball court known as the Cage. Such luminaries as Walter Dean Myers, Bruce Brooks, Rita Williams-Garcia, and Robert Lipsyte examine the ways in which players, wannabes, and hangers-on interact in the vibrant, freewheeling subculture of inner-city playground hoops. All of the action takes place on one day, with recurring characters. The contributors offer different takes on them, forcing readers to consider the individuals from a variety of points of view. It is fascinating to see how these writers bring their own unique social and artistic vision to the portrayal of the individuals who weave in and out of the narratives. The stories are of uniformly high quality; one of the real crowd-pleasers is Sharon G. Flake's "Virgins Are Lucky," which stars a sassy, self-respecting girl who decides not to text the handsome star player who has so casually given her his number. Other characters who will live on in readers' memories are Adam Rapp's smart-mouthed, sensitive eighth-grader recently rescued from homelessness by a brooding Iraq War veteran and Joseph Bruchac's Native American man, stricken with respiratory problems as a result of his rescue work at the World Trade Center. Tying all the stories together is a shared love and respect not only for the game itself, but also for the lavishly talented (and all-too-often fatally flawed) legends of New York City playground basketball. An outstanding collection that belongs in every high school library.— Richard Luzer, Fair Haven Union High School, VT

Nine writers (and one photographer-poet) join forces to describe one full day at "the Cage," a New York City pickup-court proving ground where talented unknowns fight for respect. In the afterword, editor Aronson explains that "we didn't let an author write a new story until the previous one was done." This kind of experimentation has disaster written all over it, but like a buzzer-beating, fadeaway jumper, this anthology squeaks out a win. The biggest names earn their starter status: Myers kicks it off with possibly the most straightforward entry, setting up an intriguing cast of characters; Rita Williams-Garcia focuses on a young filmmaker fascinated by the female baller Dominique (last seen in the author's Jumped, 2009); and Adam Rapp hits what is probably the book's canniest shot by fleshing out Waco, a tall, white, mysterious player who has glided through the previous chapters. Sharp-elbow action alternates with an almost spiritual grace; sure, it has its ups and downs, but that's sports.

Nine short stories by young adult authors including Robert Lipstyte, Rita Williams-Garcia, Joseph Bruchac, and Walter Dean Myers capture the activity of an urban New York City basketball court in a single day. The volume is less one cohesive whole than vignettes of a place and time. Poems and black-and-white photographs by Smith as well as an afterword by Aronson enhance the work.

Gladiators meet at the Cage, a fenced-in basketball court at West 4th in Manhattan, one of the legendary sites of playground ball. Sportswriter Rick Telander titled his classic basketball story Heaven Is a Playground, and that's certainly the description of the Cage, where ballers come "wearing attitude like / baggy shorts," and high-flying slams, rainbows and double dunks offer aerial thrills as good as fireworks. Here are the players, the mentors, the used-to-bes and the wannabes, the scouts, the filmmakers, the ghosts and the legends. Some of the best contemporary writers for teens—Walter Dean Myers, Robert Lipsyte, Rita Williams-Garcia, Joseph Bruchac and others—contribute to this novel in linked short stories, in which the players weave their way through one day at the Cage, and Charles R. Smith ties the volume together with rap poems celebrating the place, the people and the throbbing energy of the game—as Walt Whitman might have had he been a baller. Superb stories by writers who know and love the game; an ode to the show. (Linked short stories. 14 & up)

Opening with an incantatory poem from Smith ("faces behind fences/ focused courtside/ on warriors being tested/ with noplace to hide"), this collection is made up of rapid-fire short stories that take place over a single day on a famed New York City streetball court-"the Cage"-from such authors as Walter Dean Myers, Sharon Flake, Rita Williams-Garcia, Robert Lipsyte, and Adam Rapp. Interwoven with additional poems and photos from Smith, the stories offer blistering moves and dialogue, complex and rewarding characters, and off-the-court background, contextualizing the game and making it clear just how vital it is to those who play. Ages 14-up. (Feb.)