Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms (Picture Puffins) [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles R. Smith (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 3, 2000 | Age Level: 8 and up | Grade Level: 3 and up | Series: Picture Puffins

I want to thank you for helping me to exceed my goal.
As you can see, your endless talk and chatter only served as fuel for my fire.
And judging from the score, you just got burned. This major debut from a talented young writer and photographer is a righteously entertaining medley of quick stories, poems, jokes, and prose meditations focusing on The Game as played by high school and college hopefuls, street warriors, and the pros they all admire. Gritty duotone photographs of street courts and young urban players provide the perfect venue for the bold design of the text as it hums and weaves across the spreads. Inspired by his love of African-American rhythms in writing and jazz, Charles Smith has created a paean to his favorite game that will drive readers' imaginations from the page to the courts and back again.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 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
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Kirkus Reviews

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) -- Copyright ©1998, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 8 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 32 pages
• Publisher: Puffin (April 3, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0140566783
• ISBN-13: 978-0140566789
• Product Dimensions: 10 x 10 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 5.3 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #176,905 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #24 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Issues > Multiculturalism
  • #25 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Children's Books > Literature > Literary Criticism & Collections
  • #29 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Arts & Photography > Photography > General

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars basketball players can be authors, November 1, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms (Hardcover)

I just finished charles r.smith jr's book rimshots. It was a great book. it was about the authors life of basketball, and he makes it into poems that deal with different basketball situations. The reason this book was so great is because it was about basketball but in poem form. No other book that I have ever read has used basketball as content for a poem.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Extraordinary effort for a first time author., May 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms (Hardcover)

Pain, passion, poetry in motion Rimshots has it all. In stories and poems, Smith shows the range of emotions tied to the hearts of those who love the game of basketball. The in-your-face color typestyles are balanced by the sensitive sepia toned photos of the players. "Don't force anything, let the game come to you". Basketball fans will want this book to come to them. Extraordinary effort for a first time author. Simple and honest.

5.0 out of 5 stars Must read for all hoop fans!, December 7, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Rimshots: Basketball Pix, Rolls, and Rhythms (Hardcover)

Rimshots is creative and witty with amazing photos. Any basketball fan will love this book!