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Shoot for the Hoop
When Rusty Young is diagnosed with diabetes, his parents want him to stop playing basketball, but Rusty doesn't want to. When Rusty learns that his friends have formed a summer league team, he is determined to persuade his parents to let him join them.
- GenresSportsRealistic Fiction
128 pages, Paperback
First published September 1, 1995
9 people are currently reading
40 people want to read
About the author
Matt Christopher
467 books142 followersMatt Christopher is the writer young readers turn to when they're looking for fast-paced, action-packed sports novels. He is the best-selling author of more than one hundred sports books for young readers.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
Matt Christopher is America's bestselling sports writer for children, with more than 100 books and sales approaching six million copies. In 1992, Matt Christopher talked about being a children's book author.
"I became interested in writing when I was 14, a freshman in high school. I was selling magazines such as the Saturday Evening Post, Country Gentleman, and Liberty, and I would read the stories, particularly the adventure and mystery stories, and think how wonderful it would be to be able to write stories and make a living at it. I also read detective, horror, aviation, and sports stories and decided I would try writing them myself.
Determined to sell, I wrote a detective story a week for 40 weeks, finding the time to marry, work, and play baseball and basketball before I sold my first story in 1941, "The Missing Finger Points," for $50 to Detective Story magazine.
After writing and selling children's sports stories to magazines, I decided to write a baseball book for children. I was living in Syracuse, New York at the time, working at General Electric. I spoke about my idea to the branch librarian. She was immediately interested and told me that they needed sports stories badly. So I came up with my first children's book, The Lucky Baseball Bat. I submitted it to Little, Brown, and the book was published in 1954.
I'm sure that playing sandlot baseball and then semiprofessional baseball with a Class C club in the Canadian-American League influenced my writing. I had my own personal experiences, and I saw how other players reacted to plays, to teammates' and fans' remarks and innuendoes, to managers' orders, etc. All these had a great influence on my writing. My love of the game helped a lot, too, of course.
Out of all the books I've written, my favorite is The Kid Who Only Hit Homers. It's a fantasy, but the main character in it could be real. There are a lot of boys who would love to play baseball but, for some reason, cannot. The only difference between a real-life boy and Sylvester Coddmyer III is the appearance of a character named George Baruth, whom only Sylvester can see and who helps Sylvester become a good ballplayer.
I've written many short stories and books for both children and adults, and find that writing for children is really my niche. Being the eldest of nine children (seven boys and two girls), I've lived through a lot of problems many children live through, and I find these problems excellent examples to include in my books.
Sports have made it possible for me to meet many people with all sorts of life stories, on and off the field, and these are grist for this writer's mill. I'm far beyond playing age now, but I manage to go to both kids' and adult games just to keep up with them, and keep them fresh in my mind.Very few things make me happier than receiving fan letters from boys and girls who write that they had never cared for reading until they started to read my books. That is just about the ultimate in writing for children. I would never trade it for another profession."
Matt Christopher died on September 27, 1997. His legacy is now being carried on by his sons, Duane and Dale Christopher.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews
April 1, 2012
The novel "Shoot For The Hoop" is about a boy named Rusty Young who is diagnosed with diabetes. Rusty plays basketball and his parents don't want him to play basketball anymore due to his diabetes. Basketball is Rusty's favorite sport and he doesn't want to give up on his dreams. Rusty still plays basketball has troubles but still succeeds. The reason why I chose this book was because my cousin was convincing me to read this book for about 2 years and I finally decided to read it. My favorite quote in the story is " As he headed upstairs, Rusty realized there might be a way to prove to his parents that he was ready to play basketball." This is my favorite quote in the story because Rusty actually proves to his parents that he could play basketball but most people I know would give up and complain but Rusty isn't complaining his is coming up with a solution to resolve his problem. Matt Christopher the author of the novel "Shoot For The Hoop" has a really interesting writing style because most of his books are about sports but each one teaches the reader a lesson that they could use in life. I would recommend this book to people whom like to learn what it's like to go to school be diagnosed with diabetes and play basketball at the same time. If people read this book they will notice that they are not the only ones struggling through there middle school and high school years there are others too.
April 14, 2012
I read Shoot for the Hoop by Matt Christopher, which is a contemporary fiction book. This book is about a young boy named Rusty Young, who is diagnosed with diabetes, and his parents want him to stop playing basketball. Basketball is Rusty’s favorite sport, and he doesn’t want to give up on playing it. His friends are starting a summer league, and they are trying to figure out how to make that happen. A guy named Alec takes an interest in Rusty, and decides to coach the summer league team. Alec has a disability of his own; he lost two of his fingers in an accident. He convinces his parents to let Rusty play basketball and they turn out to be a great team in the summer league. This book is meant for an intermediate age, which is ages 8-12, because it is set in chapter book form. Since it is in chapter book form it doesn’t have any illustrations. The cover is a cartoon of a boy shooting the basketball. I would definitely recommend this for student because it is great for boys who like sports. And it teaches them valuable lessons in life.
Currently reading
November 6, 2008One day Rusty was playing basketball with his friends and he was feeling weird so he drunk some water and he just passed out. So the children told his parents and they took him to the hospital and they found out he had diabetes. So instead of playing basketball with his friends he has to referee the games. One day his friend told him the team was starting a summer league basketball team so Rusty wanted to play. So he went home to ask his parents and they said no. Then he called the doctor to ask if he could play and the doctor said yes but you have to have alot of candy in your pocket.So Rusty went in the backyard and Started practicing.
December 10, 2015
This book was about a kid named Rusty and he has diabetes. Rusty has had diabetes for 9 months, he found out he had diabetes when he was playing basketball and lost his breath and feinted. He woke up in a hospital bed and the Dr said he had diabetes. Rusty's mother was scared and would not let Rusty play basketball anymore. I really enjoyed this book because you have a disease you can overcome it and still be able to accomplish anything you want. I recommend this book to someone who likes books about sports and playing basketball.
January 28, 2010
I learned that when people have diabetes they could still play sports because i thought that when peole have diabetes that you can't do anythng.
I really like this book because I understand it. Other books that i try to read i don't really understand them. So the books that i like to stick with is sports books like this one. I probably cold read that book again because it's that good.
I really like this book because I understand it. Other books that i try to read i don't really understand them. So the books that i like to stick with is sports books like this one. I probably cold read that book again because it's that good.
May 13, 2018
Have you ever had a disease that can endanger you in many ways? Well in this book, a boy named Rusty Young has diabetes. Shoot For The Hoop by Matt Christopher, is a great book because of its suspense and courageousness.
In this book a boy named Rusty has diabetes. This books genre is realistic fiction. It was published in 1995. This book is really suspenseful. When Rusty plays for the Lakers, his basketball team, the games are suspenseful. The author, Matt Christopher, makes the games go back and fourth and down to the final seconds. His style of writing makes the book come down to the last shot. Another suspenseful moment is when Rusty has to prove to his parents that he is responsible enough to take a insulin shot on his own to become apart of his basketball team, the Lakers. It is very suspenseful to see if Rusty will actually do it. Your heart is beating the whole time.
Shoot For The Hoop is also courageousness. Rusty has to have courage to take his own insulin shot. Remember that this is sticking a needle into his thigh. Sure enough Rusty had the courage to do it and become apart of his team. Throughout the book Rusty is courageous in many ways. In some games it comes down to the final shot and Rusty has to take his courage and power through it. Also Rusty has to have the courage to play basketball every day. At any given moment Rusty can have a insulin reaction on the court which will end his career.
In this book a boy named Rusty has diabetes. This books genre is realistic fiction. It was published in 1995. This book is really suspenseful. When Rusty plays for the Lakers, his basketball team, the games are suspenseful. The author, Matt Christopher, makes the games go back and fourth and down to the final seconds. His style of writing makes the book come down to the last shot. Another suspenseful moment is when Rusty has to prove to his parents that he is responsible enough to take a insulin shot on his own to become apart of his basketball team, the Lakers. It is very suspenseful to see if Rusty will actually do it. Your heart is beating the whole time.
Shoot For The Hoop is also courageousness. Rusty has to have courage to take his own insulin shot. Remember that this is sticking a needle into his thigh. Sure enough Rusty had the courage to do it and become apart of his team. Throughout the book Rusty is courageous in many ways. In some games it comes down to the final shot and Rusty has to take his courage and power through it. Also Rusty has to have the courage to play basketball every day. At any given moment Rusty can have a insulin reaction on the court which will end his career.
August 8, 2017
Rusty is a basketball player diagnosed with diabetes. His parents are concerned about Rusty's health and ask him not to play.
Alex, a former basketball player who lost two fingers decided to coach youth basketball. He is impressed by Rusty's basketball skills and asks him to play on the team.
Rusty is conflicted. Should he disobey his parents and play? What if he passes out while playing?
What I enjoyed about "Shoot for the Hoop" is that Matt Christopher teaches older kids to advocate for themselves respectfully and to take charge of the situation.
Rusty contacts his doctor and goes in for an appointment. He learns about his disease and decides to start giving himself shots instead of asking his parents for injections. He also carries candy for when he feels "low."
Coach Alex talks to Rusty's parents and so does the doctor. His parents aren't magically convinced overnight that Rusty should play, which I think is important for kids to see. But they come around once they see Rusty is taking care of himself. And never once is Rusty disrespectful to his parents or authority figures.
The book also deals with prejudice from Rusty's teammates who don't want to play with someone who has a disease. Reading "Shoot for the Hoop" also got me thinking about other types of prejudice.
I think this sports book is entertaining and morally sound.
Alex, a former basketball player who lost two fingers decided to coach youth basketball. He is impressed by Rusty's basketball skills and asks him to play on the team.
Rusty is conflicted. Should he disobey his parents and play? What if he passes out while playing?
What I enjoyed about "Shoot for the Hoop" is that Matt Christopher teaches older kids to advocate for themselves respectfully and to take charge of the situation.
Rusty contacts his doctor and goes in for an appointment. He learns about his disease and decides to start giving himself shots instead of asking his parents for injections. He also carries candy for when he feels "low."
Coach Alex talks to Rusty's parents and so does the doctor. His parents aren't magically convinced overnight that Rusty should play, which I think is important for kids to see. But they come around once they see Rusty is taking care of himself. And never once is Rusty disrespectful to his parents or authority figures.
The book also deals with prejudice from Rusty's teammates who don't want to play with someone who has a disease. Reading "Shoot for the Hoop" also got me thinking about other types of prejudice.
I think this sports book is entertaining and morally sound.
September 6, 2017
great motivational book! :)
June 18, 2020
If you're a kid who likes basketball, you'll like this. Quick story of a kid almost quitting the sport because of a diabetes diagnosis, then overcoming it with the help of a new friend/idol.
Currently reading
May 4, 2018I think that this book is really good and I have been enjoying it recently and how it has a good suspense
Displaying 1 - 10 of 10 reviews