Customer Reviews

The Outside Shot

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I think that books are often given five stars on this site, but this one deserves it! I read this book for a book report and found it very interesting. Lonnie Jackson, a black boy from Harlem, is in college at Montclare for a basketball scholarship. While he's there, he works at the university hospital with a boy named Eddie, and meets a girl he likes named Sherry. Sherry is going to be a track star. While he's working with the basketball team, he starts to hate his coaches. Then, he gets suspended from the team for back talk. He gets an idea to go to an Italian team try out to watch. After those try outs, his coach Ray kills himself because he knew he wouldn't make it. Lonnie thinks that could have been him. A local gambler, the FatMan has Lonnie try to beat the spread to a basketball game by a lot. Montclare runs up the score and people are questioning Lonnie about fixing games. (And you would have to read the rest of the book to find out what happens) I think that Lonnie was a good character and liked the book because I liked Lonnie. I also like basketball and other sports. I also liked how Lonnie talked like he came from Harlem

The Outside Shot is a type of book that makes you want to read it more and more as you get further into the book. When you put the book down you feel like picking it back up. The Outside Shot is about a "cat" named Lonnie. He is one of the few African-Americans going to Montclare College on a basketball scholarship. He is from Harlem, New York. The college is pretty small but it has a lot to offer. Montclare could help Lonnie get into the pro's. When he arrives to college he realizes that the work is harder where as before he could easily pull of B's. This book has some good obstacles and conflicts to over come and has a variety of ways to entertain the reader.
On top of the new college, work, basketball team, Lonnie was interested in a girl named Sherry. Sherry wanted to become a track star. The two of them had a weird relationship. They went out and then broke up and did this again. This annoyed Lonnie and made him confused. Since he was from Harlem he kind of had some of his slang. This was shown when Lonnie would see Sherry and say something like hey baby. Sometime Lonnie would see her with other people and would say something to act cool as he walked by.
Overall this book gets five out of five stars from me. Do yourself a favor and read this book and see if Lonnie makes it through college, the pro's, and Sherry. If you need an interesting book that is entertaining this would have to be the book!

Ages 12 and up. The book The Outside Shot written by Walter Dean Myers is mostly about a boy named Lonnie heading off to play basketball for a mid-western college called Montclare. When going off to college Lonnie has to fit in with the others he is going to be living with. Lonnie has a scholarship for playing basketball, but Lonnie Jackson does not have the street smarts ne needs to pass those tough classes of his. He does not want his scholarship to go to waste, so he gives it all he`s got. While in class Lonnie meets an attractive girl named Sherry. Sherry, who in an athlete determined to be a track star.She keeps Lonnie in shape by telling him to give it all his best, and to try hard when it comes to his classes. Sherry`s independence attracts Lonnie,they have an on and off relationship that drives Lonnie crazy.The moral or the theme of the book "The Outside Shot" is that you can help others and at the same time you can achieve your dream.This works for Lonnie.I like that the book has Lonnie taking things easy and how he tries really hard to be the best basketball player that he really is.He does not get angry when things get bad,he just steps up his game, and shows others that he is ready to be on the basketball court.Also succeed off of it as well.

In the book "THE OUTSIDE SHOT" by Walter Dean Myers, the main character is Lonnie Jackson who is a black college student who plays basketball for Monteclare. Lonnie often finds himself in trouble. Lonnie also experiences a lot of struggles in the book like he had to work with one of his patients named Eddie. Eddie didn't talk much, but once Lonnie got to know him they became good friends. Another struggle is the school officials thought that Lonnie was cheating in a basketball game by shaving points. One of the funny events in the book found a good friend of Lonnie's stuck in a store because he wanted to count how many jelly beans were in a jar. Lonnie's friend was locked in and had to wait until the morning to get out. This is a book where you have to pay attention throughout the whole book so that you don't miss anything. I've recommended this book to everyone because it is funny and realistic.

What would it be like to go off to college in a different state where you don't know anyone? Lonnie Jackson had this experience when he came to Montclare State in Indiana from Harlem. He came to play basketball. He didn't like the coaches very much because they were always in his face. But he meet a girl named Sherry that he really liked and they started dating. His basketball team started off strong. This book is an example of hard work and teamwork.
I liked this book because it was mostly about basketball and I like to play and watch basketball. But I also liked that it was not just about basketball and that it was also about college life. If you are like me and like basketball and basketball stories then you will love the outside shot

The main character in The Outside Shot is Lonnie Jackson. He is 22 and has just made it to Montclair State in Indiana. Lonnie tries out for the basketball team and makes it. In order to play he has to keep his head high and record clean. His goal for college is to stay in school and stay clean. But some things get in the way. For example this guy named Fat Man makes bets on the games Montclair plays and wins money, which he gives to Lonnie. One example is that he bet Montclair to win by five points and they did and Lonnie gets two hundred dollars for it. He then gets himself a one-way ticket to a week suspension from school and hoops.
I like the writing style in this book because it switches from character to character. Lonnie, a black New Yorker, talks like this, "He went the whole nine yards today" And a white mother speaks like this, "Maybe he just had another phase"
If you like basketball this is a book for you. I liked it a lot, but you'd have to be at least in 6th grade to understand it. This book is definitely a five star book. In a way it has a lesson to it on betting and gambling. This taught me that you shouldn't get involved with anything wrong, especially if your goal is to stay in school.

Walter Dean Myers knew he loved writing ever since he was in fifth grade . Myers used to write picture books, but wanted to write something more meaningful so Myers started to write young adult books. One of them was The Outside Shot. The book was about a black kid, Lonnie Jackson, he grew up in Harlem and is now going to Monte Claire. Soon he would see how life was different in Monte Claire. The book was well thought out and skillfully written.
The book The Outside Shot is about a black kid Named Lonnie Jackson. He grew up in Harlem and always wanted to play big time basketball. He got a college scholarship to Monte Claire, a college with a pretty good basketball team. When he gets to college he realizes that its more than just basketball. He meets some friends that show him how life really is. He also meets a girl and gets to see how different they are in a village then they are in a big city.
I thought the book is the perfect book for people that like basketball. I love basketball and in the games it made you feel like you were playing with the team. I would recommend this book to anybody I know because it was a great book, it always captured the feelings of the characters perfectly. Overall I would give it four stars.
In summation the book was about a kid named Lonnie who always wanted to play basketball. He gets a scholarship to Monte Claire for basketball. He soon finds out what the real world is like.

How would you like it if you were from the projects and went to a white college, like Lonnie Jackson? The book is about Lonnie's major life changes. The Outside Shot takes place at a Midwestern college, Montclare. Lonnie makes the basketball team, gets a girl, plays well, gets involved in gambling, works with an autistic child, and on top of that has to do his homework. There is always a bad guy in a book and the basketball coach, Mr. Leeds, has that part. He rides on everyone's case for a living. Lonnie struggles with his grades as he tries to be the best ball player. He deals with the pressure of being black in a white school.

The book has non-stop action. It is what I like to call a page-turner. My favorite part was when Lonnie was called to come to the university president's office. He finds himself scared as he walks in thinking he is going to be expelled. The book is written in slang. This way of writing is to let a brother know what's going on! This book is a great read. All the brothers should pick it up.

The Outside Shot

Have you ever dreamed of going from low to a pro basketball player? In the story a guy named Loonie got an offer to go play collage basketball which would be a big thing to do for a black boy to do back then. In this story Loonie went to college to play basketball. Loonie meet a couple of new guys at college. One was named Colin he would be playing basketball with him. Loonie was a big and good ball player. In the middle of the season some of the players were playing for illegal teams. So Leeds called Loonie in to his office to help him find out who was behind this. So after Loonie found out who was behind this it was time to leave for the summer. Loonie tried to say by to his friends without tearing up but he cried and that was that.

I really liked this book because it was about basketball. And it shows to those people out there that to be a basketball player it is not just a sport it is a big think that takes lots of thinking and communication skills.

This book of adolescent fiction will appeal to the black youth, for the title character is a black man that leaves the comforts of his home in Harlem. Lonnie Jackson receives a basketball scholarship to Montclare College in Indiana, a significant physical and cultural distance from what he is accustomed to.
The story here is quite different from so many sports books in that the coaches are not men with a saintly demeanor, the two coaches are essentially jerks that are temperamentally and even intellectually in the wrong profession. Their idea of coaching is to tell a player before the game what their statistics should be at the end of the game. When Lonnie meets a black female student that runs track, he finds their relationship to be a rocky one. Lonnie is used to females that are not as dedicated to their education as she is and are much easier to bed. Finally, there are dark forces that are trying to suck Lonnie into a point shaving scheme; even though he is innocent Lonnie is unable to keep from being suspected.
What makes this story work is Lonnie's relationship with a very troubled and withdrawn boy named Eddie. As part of the deal for his schooling, Lonnie takes a job at the hospital and his task is to try to get Eddie to come out of his very deep shell. Their relationship is one that tugs at your heart for you feel for the boy and his problems. Lonnie is the perfect man for the task, using his street smarts and adopting a black attitude to show Eddie the way.
While Lonnie experiences racism, it is low-key and he also has to learn to separate racism from simple ignorance. The real issues are in trying to fit into a midwestern culture and with people that have different backgrounds. Reading this book will be a great learning experience for all young males that are placed in an environment different from what they have lived in.