Learning The Game (Push Fiction) [Paperback]

Kevin Waltman (Author)

Book Description

Series: Push Fiction | Publication Date: October 1, 2006

It isn't how you play the game -- it's how you let the game play you. When Nate's team commits a crime, all of his loyalties are tested -- and questioned. A bold hardcover debut.

Over the hot, Indiana summer, Nate's high school basketball team practices on a local court off a row of fraternities. One day after practice, one of the team members suggests breaking into a frat house and looting its contents. Nate goes along with it -- a move he instantly regrets. Soon all of his loyalties are being tested -- with his brother, a town outcast who might be blamed for the crime; with his girlfriend, who he tries to confide in; and with his teammates. A phenomenal novel in the tradition of Chris Crutcher, Rich Wallace, and Walter Dean Myers' SLAM.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up–Nate's brother, Marvin, accidentally shot his friend five years ago. This chance event sends him away from home and down the road of drugs and crime, leaving his wealthy parents in a fog of denial. Nate's goal is snagging the final starting spot on the varsity basketball team, and he practices every day on a court outside a local fraternity house. One thing leads to another and Nate finds himself following some of his teammates into the house, stealing whatever they can and rationalizing that the wealthy fraternity boys will not miss a few electronics. As Nate struggles with his conscience, he learns about how a chance decision can make or break someone's life. Does he confess to his coach and risk incriminating the entire team? Does he follow his girlfriend's advice and protect his image? Does he seek out Marvin and try to learn from his mistakes? Readers picking up the book for sports action will not be disappointed, but they will also find themselves relating to and intrigued by Nate and the tough choices he is forced to make. Conflict ranges from external as players compete for time on the varsity team, to internal as Nate must decide between right and wrong and chance versus choice. Teenagers will relate to these well-developed characters who make poor decisions and are then left to struggle with the consequences.–Julie Webb, Shelby County High School, Shelbyville, KY
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Gr. 9-12. Nate is looking forward to the start of the basketball season when he hopes to finally become a starter on his high-school team. One night in late summer, at the end of a pickup game, one of Nate's teammates suggests that they break into a local fraternity house. Despite his pangs of conscience, Nate goes along with the crime and helps carry the loot to a van. The basketball players are soon the prime suspects in the break-in, which becomes big news in Nate's small Indiana college town. Nate wants to come forward, but his girlfriend and friends talk him out of it; his confession would mean that he and the others involved would be kicked off the team. The sports story and Nate's dilemma are made more complex by Nate's difficult relationship with his tormented older brother. The layered issues, together with excellent writing sparked with many sharp phrases, make for a compelling novel that offers no easy answers. Todd Morning
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 12 and up
  
• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Scholastic Press (October 1, 2006)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0439676118
• ISBN-13: 978-0439676113
• Product Dimensions: 7.1 x 5.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #327,192 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #70 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Sports & Activities > Sports > Basketball

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars An absorbing novel about a young man's struggle with peer pressure, August 11, 2005

By 

Teenreads.com (New York, NY) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning The Game (Hardcover)

Sixteen-year-old Nate practically lives, eats, and breathes basketball. He spends most of his free time shooting hoops and trying to improve his game, in hopes that the coach will give him a starting position when the season begins.

During the summer Nate and his teammates practice at the nearby frat house's empty basketball court. Branson, a braggart and a bully, decides to break into the empty frat house, and he talks the team into joining him. Branson even convinces the others to help him load up his old van with electronics, clothes, and other items from the house. The boys basically strip the house of anything valuable that can later be sold, and Nate helps load the van. Only one player, Jackson, walks away in disgust, wanting nothing to do with the robbery.

Because Nate's older brother Marvin, no stranger to the local police, lives near the frat house, he becomes a suspect in the robbery. The team has an unspoken pact. Cheneyville is a small town, and soon rumors start swirling around the team since they practice at the frat's court. When questioned by school authorities, to a man, the team denies any involvement in the robbery.

Still, the pressure is really on. Nate's parents are suspicious. Lorrie, Nate's girlfriend, begs him to remain silent about the robbery, but Nate's conscience is bothering him. He and Jackson are good friends. Nate knows he let Jackson down, and Jackson doesn't appreciate having to lie for the team. Marvin tries to keep the police at bay while encouraging Nate to come forward with the truth and deal with whatever happens.

Nate is very confused and frightened. If he confesses he will be in big trouble at home, at school, and with Lorrie. He knows his confession will implicate the team and that the team will turn on him. He will lose his friends, his place on the team, and the respect of his parents. There will be punishment of some sort, and the basketball season will be over for him. If he remains silent, though, it surely will force Marvin to leave town.

Kevin Waltman has done an excellent job of inviting the reader directly into the center of Nate's dilemma. Sometimes the reader empathizes with Nate's predicament. Other times, the reader wants to shake Nate out of his self-absorption. Always, though, the reader keeps turning the page to see what happens next.

--- Reviewed by Carole Turner

4.0 out of 5 stars Worth a lot more than 25 cents!, August 1, 2010

By 

Mrs. Marian "megalibrarian" (American Fork, UT USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Learning The Game (Push Fiction) (Paperback)

I picked this book up for 25 cents at Big Lots. I was pretty sure it wouldn't be very good, but hey, it's a hardcover! I cannot fathom who decided that this book was an overstock, because I really liked it.

Nate is a junior in high school trying for a starting position on the basketball team when Branson, the tough guy on the team, convinces the guys to "liberate" the nearby fraternity of its furnishings. Nate has to deal with the natural consequences of committing a crime. Kevin Waltman writes with a genuine understanding of moral conscience and the effects of community and peer pressure. I really appreciated that Nate was normal - too many novels lately portray adolescents as sexually active, party-going, rude, and constantly pushing boundaries. Waltman recognizes that the majority of teens are still kids, despite the attributes society and media try to give them.

I would have paid full price for this book, and I will highly recommend it to my 9th grade male students - a great read!