Sasquatch in the Paint
by Kareem Abdul-Jabbar & Raymond Obstfeld
Theo grew almost a foot in one summer--which means now he should be the greatest middle school basketball player at school, right?! Unfortunately for Theo, and his father, he is the worst player. Theo would rather spend his time "nerding" it up with his best friend Brian on the Brain Team for the Aca-lympics. But he decided to give basketball a shot.
Dubbed "Sasquatch" by the new girl, Rain, Theo struggles to deal with his athletic ability, the loss of his mother, his annoying cousin who happens to be a great musician, Aca-lympics, his dad's new dating life, his friends, and of course, Rain--who he thinks is just a LITTLE cute.
I wasn't sure about this book at first. I'm not a huge sports fan, and I always wonder when famous people decide they want to write a book, but I was pleasantly surprised by this story. There are quite a few layers and topics the authors touch on--maybe too many topics for such a short story, but it kept the pace going, and I can forgive all the stuff squashed into the story because it was well-written.
There is a lot going on not with Theo's basketball team, but the authors really touch on grief, and life after loss--he wants his dad to be happy, but he's scared about him dating again. The story also touches on the Muslim religion and how it is easy to judge and accuse someone very easily due to a preconceived, and incorrect, view of what that religion means and what the followers of that religion really believe in, as a whole.
I think younger teens will get a lot out of this book, and lucky for them, it's a series! Check out the second one, which we also have available at the library:
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