The Moves Make the Man Reprint Edition by Brooks, Bruce published by HarperTeen

by Bruce Brooks

Reverse spin, triple pump, reverse dribble, stutter step with twist to the left, stutter into jumper, blind pass. These are me. The moves make the man. The moves make me. Jerome foxworthy -- the Jayfox to his friends -- likes to think he can handle anything. He handled growing up without a father. He handled being the first black kid in school. And he sure can handle a basketball. Then Jerome meets bix Rivers -- mysterious and moody, but a great athlete. So Jerome decides to teach bix his game. He can tell that bix has the talent. All he's got to do is learn the right moves....

Genres: Young Adult, Sports, Fiction, Realistic Fiction, School, Historical Fiction, Childrens

Unknown Binding

First published September 26, 1984

About the author

Bruce Brooks (born September 23, 1950) is an American author of young adult and children's literature. He was born in Washington D.C., but spent most of his time growing up in North Carolina as a result of parents' being divorced. Although divorce is never easy for a child, Brooks credits moving around a lot between the two locations with making him a keen observer of social situations. Switching schools often and having to make new friends evolved his ability to tell good stories. He graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1972, and the Iowa Writers' Workshop in 1980. Before earning a living as a writer, Brooks had worked as a letterpress operator and a journalist for magazines and newspapers. Brooks has reported a very diverse list of influences, like Charles Dickens, Henry James, P.G. Wodehouse and Raymond Chandler. Brooks has three sons: Alex, 23, Spencer, 15, and Drake, 1. He lives with his wife Ginee Seo in Park Slope, Brooklyn.

Reviews

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars
A seriously challenging story of racism, mental health, and friendship. I'm torn between 4 and 5 stars. This book has the potential for greatness. The passage where Jerome talks about how you make friends resonated with me. A lot of this book resonated with me. It made me uncomfortable; it made me think.
But despite that, I do not think I can make it one of my 5 star reads, at least not at this point. The sports references lost me too often and I found myself skimming instead of reading whole sections. The story line and characters moved me but the words themselves often felt distracting.

Definitely one I will have to come back to someday.

[Josiah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Bruce Brooks is an incredibly awesome writer. When he's at his best, as he seems to be in this book, reading his words is like riding the world's most thrilling roller coaster, dipping and rolling and dropping and whirling at a breathless pace, hardly able to mentally catch up with what's happening in the story because the action is so intense, a glowing riptide one-upping itself constantly, and without end. In short, Bruce Brooks represents the pinnacle of linguistic awesomeness as a writer.

The Moves Make the Man is a story unlike any other, and that's no overstatement. Every one of the characters is as multifaceted as the people we meet in real life, genuine mixes of good, bad, ugly and beautiful, so there's really no guessing at any point in the narrative who is good and who is bad, whose motives will turn out to be pure and whose will not. None of the characters fit into any of these molds, and as the story spins at its wild and frenetic pace, the surprising revelations pile up until we're not sure what's actually happening anymore.

Bix is a unique, bright, witty kid; Jerome Foxworthy is equally as dapper and intelligent. The biggest difference between the two is that Bix's personal issues run deeper than Jerome can ever discern, deeper than the reader will ever be able to realize, and yet it's difficult to get a solid enough hold on these issues to clearly see whether or not they really are the negatives that they appear to be. After all, nothing in Bix's world is as it seems...

No one writes about sports with more palpably beautiful prose than Bruce Brooks, but that's really a comparatively minor selling point for this novel. The story's prime substance is truly revealed as Bruce Brooks takes us deep below the dangerous, murky waters of the unendingly complicated friendship shared by Bix and Jerome. These scenes are wonderfully warm...at times. They can also be chilling, frightening, or so intense and gut-wrenching that it's hard to continue reading. But as the situations all tie more tightly together and the narrative picks up in the brilliance of its awesome force (if that were possible), and we see Bix headed for a level of heartbreak more profound than anyone should ever have to endure, it becomes clear that this is a brilliant novel that is eminently worthy of the Newbery Honor that it was awarded.

It is a rare book, indeed, that lingers in my mind with the resounding effect of The Moves Make the Man. This story is a tour de force in the truest sense, a surpassing masterpiece of juvenile literature that will jar readers down to their innermost self. It is absolutely not a novel to be missed by anyone.

I would definitely give three and a half stars to The Moves Like the Man, and I gave a lot of thought to rounding that rating up instead of down.

[Jenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. It surprised me with its subtlety and nuances. The novel is about a boy named Bix, and it's told from the first-person perspective of Bix's friend, Jerome. The book takes place in the 1960s, and Jerome is black, and Bix is white. Jerome first sees Bix at a baseball game (Bix is a shortstop), and he's immediately drawn to him, but they meet when Jerome is the first black student to integrate Bix's middle school.
The book is extremely complex as it deals with integration, race relations (that scene with Jeb...), family, friendship, sports, mental health, and more. What I loved the most about this book, though, by far is Jerome's voice. He's such a well-developed character, and he's HYSTERICAL. I laughed out loud multiple times reading this book. He's just so funny. The thing I loved second most is the dynamic with Jerome's mom and brothers and Bix's family dynamic, which is surprising in its complexity for any book but especially a middle grade novel. When we find out what really happened with Bix and his family, I was definitely caught off guard. Finally, third most is the sports talk. I love basketball, so reading a book that has basketball as one of its main characters was really fun. I love the commentary and symbolism of Jerome's hidden court and the concept that the moves you make on the court are what make you, you. I also appreciate the relationship between Bix and Jerome and Jerome's honesty about his feelings about Bix. I also found the book incredibly honest about race, mental health, friendship, brotherly love, and family. I think that's what makes the book special to me--the honesty and no frills of Jerome but also of the story and the book itself. It reminds me of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest in that way.
I highly recommend this book, and I will definitely reread it to get more out of it, especially because I read the ending on the beach and wanted to know what would happen next so read very quickly. A second time, I'd read more slowly and get even more out of it.

[Alex Flynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I recommend this strange and beautiful book for readers of all ages. It is a YA book and I think gets heavy rotation in schools. I may have even read it when I was younger, but don't remember having read it. It's fascinating to read as an adult. It tells the story of a young african-american boy in 1960's who is really into basketball and is the first black student to integrate an all white school. It tells the story of his friendship with a gifted athlete from the school who has some form of mental illness (though what is wrong is never actually cleared up) and who is obsessed with telling the truth Bix has a panic attack/tantrum whenever deceptions occur, which is why it's so hard for the protagonist to teach him basketball, which is a game based on deception.

What is amazing and strange about this book is how much it withholds. There is a lot going on throughout the book that is never discussed, from the civil rights movement, the state of mental illness, discrimination and the lives of many of its characters. There feels like entire novels nested between the novel that is actually here. And it's also very very unexpected in many ways.

[Brynn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Usually I don't trust books that win awards. The Newbery in particular seems to slap stickers on any sort of kid's book that is at the very least slightly better than average - maybe that's because it's hard to find a really excellent kid's book, which this one definitely is. So I was happily surprised that, for once, the Newbery got something right. (Sorry for being horrendously bitter, heh heh heh.)
I picked it up in grade five on the last day of school, and sat down in a quiet corner and read the crap out of it. I sat there for hours, completely absorbed, moving not one single inch until my teacher came over and told me I could have it.
Whew.
I took it home and finished it. I loved it. Something about it just completely blew my eleven-year-old brain upside-down - here was a book that was written with pure magic. The main character, Jerome, was unlike any other kid protagonist I'd ever read about - he felt real. His thoughts ran quick and adult, he saw the world in a very smart way and he seemed like the epitome of a human being. The narrative was probably my favorite part of the book, the way it danced in front of my eyes, bringing up the clearest, most vivid, most take-your-breath-away images - and the language was sophisticated, which I absolutely adored. Finally, here was a kid's book that didn't talk down to me. Jerome Foxworthy talked like a smart kid, a real smart kid, and that was something I could really appreciate. But not only that. The book was about basketball, too, and that's something I love.
The basketball part seems to me like just a way to get the story going. It was really more about Jerome and Bix, the strange messed-up white kid who becomes his friend - and that part of it was tough. There was your real-life part of the book. Bix is obviously not normal or very easy to figure out, but that's part of what made him so fascinating. This isn't really a story about basketball, it's a story about friends and love and craziness and big problems, with basketball as the hook.

So many good things about this book, though. That narrative, man. It's as effortless as effortless can be - most books, probably close to all of them, have moments where they're slightly uneven, or not as inspired; but The Moves Make the Man was as solid as stone all the way through. It's close to three hundred pages but doesn't feel like it's any at all. It's the type of book you read and get pulled into, and don't surface from until all those pages are behind you and you're miraculously already at the end.
This book has magic in it.
And not to mention the humor of the thing. It's a sad book, sure, but it's also pretty darn entertaining - Jerome sees a lot of funny things in the world, and there's that whole "exasperation with the stupid adults" part of it that I got such a kick out of. Bruce Brooks sees right into the mind of a kid, and that's something authors can rarely do, and almost never with such skill. I would compare Bruce Brooks with Jerry Spinelli (who wrote the oddly similar book Maniac Magee) - they've both got that surreal, magical prose thing going on.

Five stars for The Moves Make the Man.

[❤Marie Gentilcore · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book a lot and it wasn't even I book I chose. I read it because my 13-year old daughter was reading it in school and wanted to discuss some of it. It’s the fictional story of a troubled boy named Bix as told by his friend Jerome Foxworthy. It’s also about basketball, family, mental illness, and the truth with a little bit about integration and racism thrown in. I’m really glad to have read it. I hope to read more with my daughter :).

[Andrew · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Reyes 6/7Y 3/210

The Moves Make the Man
Author by: Bruce Brooks
The book is mainly about a boy named Jerome Foxworthy he is first black person to join a school in North Carolina. So Jerome sees Bix play shortstop taught he had talent and does not like baseball. So Bix goes to the woods sees Jerome Foxworthy play basketball or JayFox as they called them. Then he played a boy named Bobo and won lantern. So he actually played Bix. So he goes to the court and flashes the lantern and sees its Bix. So he decides to teach his moves to Bix.
My favorite character is JayFox or Jerome Foxworthy. He is nice and cool person. For example, he taught Bix his moves on basketball, back on that time there was segregation. JayFox was black and Bix was white. Also, I can relate to Jerome because I taught my friend how to play baseball. I think Jerome is interesting character because he has lots of obstacles but he pulls it off.
The climax was when Jerome teaches his moves to Bix. Their friendship was shocking. It was rare that they were friends during those times. Also when Bix got in accident and injured himself. They stop playing and Jerome stop teaching him his moves.
Also, when Bix recovered and stop practicing basketball.
I think the author wanted me to know that friendship is important. For example, during those times there were not friendships like that because of race issues. I think the author wanted me to know that life has lots of obstacles. Also, friendships are powerful like with Jerome and Bix. Also, some friendships are not that powerful.
Yes, I would recommend this book. I will Recommend this book to any body that has close friends or have trouble with their friends. Also, I would recommend this book to people who like basketball. This book is amazing, and has lots of action. This book is very good and interesting.
I will rate this book on a scale to 1-10 rate a 10 because it’s excellent book.

[Shella · Rating 1 out of 5]

It is a shame to give a Newbery honor book a one start rating. I wanted to like this book. I usually enjoy its intended themes. The execution of this plot was very weak. The relationship of the characters was not well developed, the characters seemed like forced stereotypes, even for the early 80's. The climax and ending fell flat. The other main reason for my one star rating was the use of racial terms and cursing that was absolutely not necessary for the plot or depiction of the characters. The reason for Baxter's mom mental illness was never developed, the friendship between Jerome and Baxter was not built up to evoke the emotion that the reader should have had. I wanted to care about these characters and wanted to explore these themes, but it was just a hot mess instead. Even though this author tends to write some impressing and memorable scenes, his execution of an entire story has disappointed me. With Newbery's intended audience being between the ages of 8-14, the content of this story barely scratches the top age range. This title goes in my Newbery head-scratcher category.

[Gregory Rothbard · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book was one that shaped me

[⋆⭑★ Kipp ★⭑⋆ · Rating 2 out of 5]

Eh. not my favorite. RTC

[Amber Scaife · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two boys, both with issues of their own, become friends over the game of basketball, but one of them may be too troubled to be saved by the other.
And intense and touching story that had me rooting for both boys.

[Karis Anne · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Moves Make The Man is the story of a black kid growing up in Wilmington and one very intriguing friendship he forms with a very interesting white kid.
Despite the fact, that this book had quite a bit more language than I would have liked (completely unnecessary too)...I super enjoyed it!
I have to be honest that I am a little bit surprised that I DID enjoy it.
Why?
Because first of all, it's a sports book...and those usually aren't my faves (But then, maybe I just haven't read any good ones...).
Second, It has a kind of modern feel to it, which I usually don't love either (I like more of a classy feel than a contemporary feel).
Third, the amount of language in this juvenile fiction novel is NOT justifiable.
So, why do I still like it?
First, I LOVED that this book made me want to get out there and play basketball! After all, basketball is one of the main elements woven throughout the story. And, when the book speaks of sports, it doesn't go into too much detail or too little detail! It inspires you without bogging you down in all the jargon.
Second, the voice of the main character (Jerome) is super fun and unique. He is a really fun narrator, and his perspective on things, his home life, and just, well, EVERYTHING about him makes me chuckle! He brings such a unique UMPH to the story line!
Third, the storyline of this book is both achingly thematic and tragically realistic. It has a unique plot line that I have never quite seen anywhere else!
So, overall, in spite of the few things about this book that initially made me grimace, The Moves Make The Man is (in my opinion), a definite keeper!

[Mona Ammon · Rating 4 out of 5]

TITLE: The Moves Make the Man
WHY I CHOSE THIS BOOK: It is a Newbery Honor Book
REVIEW: I loved What Hearts by this author. So I was very much anticipating reading this book. It was good but not as good as What Hearts. The friendship between the two young men who seem to come from different backgrounds was heart-warming. This story took place during the start of school integration giving you an interesting glimpse into that time. During one scene Jerome, who is black, and Bix, who is white are driving with Bix's stepfarther, to another city to visit Bix's mother. Bix insists that they stop at a local dinner he and his stepfather normally go to. The stepdad doesn't want to. You find out the stepdad was right, because it was not an integrated dinner. It did not go well with the owner that Bix thought was his friend spit on them all. It is amazing that people would behave that way ever and even more amazing that we seem to be heading down that path again.

[Brandon Farber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book because every chapter you read is different. The story is about this boy named Jerome Foxworthy and his friend named Bix. Jerome is writing about how he meet his friend Bix because he thinks he can write about Bix because Bix's ran away. Bix's mom is crazy and if she got a hold a pencil she would probably kill someone or herself. His step dad hates him. The first time Jerome saw Bix was when he went to see his brother manage his team and he saw Bix making magical plays in the infield. Jerome's mom got hurt and Jerome and his two brothers were on their own in the house, Jerome got the cooking duties. The school counselor told Jerome that he could take Home economics to learn how do things around the house. In his class was a boy and it was Bix and all the other students were girls. the teacher put Jerome and Bix as partners. Then Jerome and Bix became friends.

[Lavear Whitney · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Moves Make the Man
Bruce Brooks
This book is about an African-American teenager named Jerome. Jerome meets this weird kid who is named Bix. Bix hates lies and so when Jerome teaches him to play basketball he has a ethical disagreements with the fakes. Throughout the story, Jerome and Bix learn that the moves make the man.
I thought this story defiantly deserved a Nobel Prize. It has swings of intense, funny, sad, and many more. I really like the part when Jerome wins a lantern by playing winning a game of basketball. It is funny and intense. This is just one of many great scenes. Overall this book was fantastic.
This book would be great for any body who loves basketball and also a deeper thinking kind of book. In this novel, there are a few swear words and a lot of racist words and phrases. I think anyone 14 and up would enjoy this book.

[Jessica · Rating 1 out of 5]

There were times where I almost started liking this, I was even willing to slightly overlook the offensive racist remarks the narrator made about white people, but the remarks made about people in the mental health hospital wing were BEYOND OFFENSIVE. The language throughout was so full of slang, and I did not enjoy that at all. I got so sick of reading the words "fakes" and "jive." And it was just way too out there that there was a basketball court in the middle of the woods, but a train randomly stops there and a guy gets off the play basketball and the other guy takes bets. A train would never stop for something like that. I felt bad for the stepdad because he actually seemed like a decent guy who was just trying to do the right thing. So overall, I didn't like it because it was offensive, at times highly unrealistic, and I felt the writing was poor.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was very entertaining, with one of most delightful narrators I've ever come across; seriously, he was just so full of attitude and humour and wit and it was SO enjoyable to see the world through his eyes.

Personally, all the baseball sport stuff went straight over my head, but thankfully there was so much more to the book than that.
I thoroughly enjoyed it.

[Allison · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I never have to hear about 'mock apple pie' again, it will be too soon.

[Jugglerilluminati Ur Mom! · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book.

[Anh Gordon · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a part of my sophomore son’s literature homeschooling. 

We read _What Hearts_ , also written by Bruce Brooks, last year for homeschool, and I had given that book a lukewarm review. But I am not giving this book a lukewarm review.



I thought this book was great. Truly. Very well written, with an excellent and realistic protagonist. The prose was delightful. Told in first person point of view, with a strong voice and a mix of humor and wit that works well in the face of very tough content such as racism and serious family dysfunction and issues.

Jerome Foxworthy is the protagonist and he is likable and funny, smart and cool. A Black boy growing up in a single parent home, he is well adjusted and happy. Basketball is his passion, and he spends much of days and time working on his game, his “moves,” which become a huge theme in the book.

He is the smartest kid in his school, well liked but has no best friend, which doesn’t bother him much. But then he learns that for the next school year, the city has rezoned the area in his neighborhood and now he would be attending the local white school, making him the only Black student there.

Through a series of events, he becomes friends with Bix, who, he learns has numerous issues of his own. That is probably the most I really think I can say without getting into too many spoilers.

There is so much to like in this book. The writing is so realistic—readers really feel like they are in Jerome’s head and we get to know him pretty well. He has a sarcastic streak to him, but it is a funny sort of sarcasm and not a mean one. He handles himself pretty well, especially the discrimination that he encounters—and he encounters not just racism but classism. We experience his emotions, and he is very eloquent, in his junior high, teenage way, in describing how he feels. I found myself really liking this kid—he comes alive within the pages of this book and you really want to be his friend.

Some of the events are a bit strange and odd, which is what makes me drop half a star. Even knowing that the setting is in the 1960s or maybe 1970s, some things just are weird. I do sometimes have issues when plot details are inconsistent, but this is not the case here. It is just that there are some events that happened that I just didn’t understand exactly what they were.

But all in all, a really enjoyable book. I’m going to give it 5 stars because I can’t do half stars, and I enjoyed it so much I can’t give it only 4 stars. Recommended for anyone who wants to read a good book.



I have both the print copy and the audiobook version of this book and listened while I read along. The reader for the audiobook added to the appeal of the book for me, but I had to move it to 1.5x speed because he was a touch too slow in his reading. But the audiobook is really fun, and helped make the character come alive. Loved all the nuances and tones.

Warning: this book is set in the 60s or 70s and there is widespread use of the N word.

[Corrion B · Rating 4 out of 5]

In addition, I would rate The Moves Make The Man 4 stars. I liked the elements of sports fiction, with particular focus on Jerome's development as a young person attempting to find his identity as a young man and as an athlete. Transitional sentences that show Jerome's active role in picking his own future, such as "As Jerome grows…" or "With each new challenge" actively move the reader forward throughout the story.
One of the most important quotes that defines the theme and idea of self-discovery and personal development is "A person can play a game, but that doesn’t mean the game plays him." The core of Jerome's inner journey can be seen in this quote. On and off the basketball court, Jerome battles with identity and self-control throughout the book. (Bruce Brooks,20)
"I don't need to be perfect I just need to be me" is a key comment that symbolizes Jerome's crisis being solved. I simply must be myself.This point in the book represents Jerome's transition from insecurity and lack of confidence to acceptance of who he is.(Bruce Brooks,66)
Jerome's Struggle with Self-Respect "I had no idea what I was doing, how to approach individuals, or how to open doors for them. Additionally, I never developed self-confidence.”
Jerome's intense feelings of insecurity and disconnection are highlighted in this quote. It describes him as a young man who feels cut off.(Bruce Brooks,177)
Bruce Brooks uses imagery and metaphor language to help the reader understand Jerome's emotional states. "The ball felt like an extension of my own hands, a part of me, more than just a game or a goal" is a great illustration of this. There was nothing else that made sense.Here, Brooks describes Jerome's bond with basketball using physical imagery. Basketball becomes a physical and emotional therapy for Jerome, as shown by the metaphor of the ball as an extension of his hands. (Bruce Brooks,277)

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I remember thinking this was a good book when I first read it perhaps in middle school, but I definitely didn’t fully understand it. Re-reading it as an adult, I am struck by how well written it is, how well Bruce Brooks used language and created characters. Remarkably, he created people who are realistic in their flaws, and characters that are neither all good nor all bad. For example, I started out with bias against the step-father, and he is once again very unlikeable at the end, but in between there are times when he behaves as a good parent should, and we also see that his step-son Baxter is capable of throwing tantrums and being extremely difficult. The narrator is an impressive young man, who does his best through a lot of tough situations. I do think that Baxter’s running away at the end could have been avoided if the step-father had simply spoken to the mother and prepared her for Baxter’s visit, but not everyone is good at thinking things through in advance. Mainly, this book provides interesting food for thought about honesty and when it’s appropriate to be real or fake. I would have liked more about Jerome’s experience integrating a white school, but that wasn’t the focus of the book, and we got examples of entrenched racism as it was. Scenes from this book stuck with me for more than twenty years until this re-reading, which is also a sign of how good it is. I would recommend it to high school age and up, as the older you are the more you will actually get from it, despite the main characters being in junior high.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ok, I finished this a couple of days ago and just about all I can say is wow.

More poetical than most 'novels in verse' nowadays.

If one knows just a little bit about basketball, one can get more out of it than someone completely naïve, but I can't imagine anyone who's never seen any snippets of the game or who doesn't know what a backboard is, for example. Oh, and do know that you can't 'travel' (walk or run with the ball in hand rather than dribbling it). That's about it.

Mostly it's about race relations, family relationships, and coming-of-age in the South in 1961.

The N word is used a lot, almost always to signal that this is a character for whom we have no respect. The word 'coon' is used once, too, in a way that makes it clear it's an obscenity.

Don't read it too fast. I have a feeling the less than stellar reviews are from people who rushed through it. All who didn't talk about the ending read too fast, too. It's *hard spoiler - do not click through if you're thinking about reading this* a truly tragic ending; there's no way Bix is going to make it on his own even though he is white.

The author is white, but his biography gives me the impression that he is a completely credible witness.

I do highly recommend this.

4.5 stars, because I try to reserve 5 stars for books everybody should read and I have to be honest and admit that there are people I'm not going to bother to recommend this to because I know they wouldn't appreciate it... but I did think it amazing so I feel compelled to round up! And I do plan to reread it.

[Stylez Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

"There are no moves that you truly make alone." This is one significant quote from the book that truly grasps the meaning of the book itself. This book would be a 5 out of 5 stars, but with one flaw that really messes up the book, I have to give it a 4 out of 5. The positive points in the book is what makes it really interesting and kind of fun to read. I really liked how in the beginning the main protagonist is explaining how he came up with the story and he was able to come together and write about this journey he was taking. I liked how in the book that takes place in North Carolina, just around the Civil Rights Movement shows the problems the protagonist Jerome Foxworthy faced. Being an African-American Child he was faced with many problems many of them being forced to integrate with a school he did not want to attend. I loved have well in detail the author of the book went into every "part" of the book, in each of these parts the author really took his time to truly capture the what is happing in the heat of the moment, for example when Jerome is seen playing basketball in the woods. The author goes into deep details about the surroundings and each little thing that can be heard. The author also goes into detail every time Bix or Jerome is playing basketball. From the "Left Jab, to the Back step into the jump-shot." I feel this really brings together the book nicely. One of my favorite thing about the book, the reason why it's a four star. Is the back and forth feelings/connections that the two protagonist have for each other. Even though, the story is told by the main protagonist Jerome, you can still fill the connection between him and Bix. Through the conversations, the facial expression that are so detail by the way, and the overall feel of the story. However, the main thing that really holds this story back is how they ended the story, to me if it just had another chapter it would have been 5 out of 5 stars, but without that ending it felt as something was missing. Some parts of the book were a little "iffy" or felt like they didn't fit, but what disappointed me the most is how they decided to end the book with a mystery that will probably never get solved.

[Abigail Mohn · Rating 5 out of 5]

Okay, this book blew me away.

I was expecting a sweet story about friendship and sports, one that was fun and cute but not terribly deep. I was not expecting an incredibly deep story about lying, mental health, racism and the feeling that you did everything you can to help a person but still didn’t manage to help them.

I’m not going to say too much about the plot, because it unfolds so perfectly over the story. I went into this book completely blind, which I think is the best way to read it. But I will say that this book follows a type of book I really like and want to read more of- where the narrator is not the main character. On that note, I absolutely loved the narrator. He was so funny and such an accurate depiction of a middle-school aged boy. And Bix… poor traumatized, mentally unstable Bix. My heart aches for that boy 💔

But seriously, don’t brush this aside as a simple sports story. The sports play a minor role in the novel, contributing to the metaphor over the novel about the “moves” making the man. It’s a fairly quick read, but absolutely blew me out of the water with how deep it is. It deserves every one of its five stars.

[Melinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is insightful in many ways; for one, Jerome is a fascinating character. I appreciated the thought process that narrated Jerome's attempt to try out for the basketball team in an all-white school, his schedule change which places him in a home-economics class, his unconventional friendship with Bix and his willingness to teach Bix the fine-tuned skills of basketball, and his accompanying Bix to visit Bix's mother, who is mentally ill, in the hospital. There is some true emotion throughout this book as well as some poignant discussion points. When Jerome's home-economics class makes "mock apple pie" out of crackers, I respected Bix's objections to using trickery in cooking and encouraging a lie. Bix's relationship with his step-father is also interesting; it is not until the concluding chapters of the book that the reasons for which Bix is discouraged from visiting his sick mother are revealed. There is quite a bit of language considering this book's target audience, but otherwise, a worthwhile read.

[S.G. Willoughby · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was just well-written. There were parts I could have done without (like the language sprinkled throughout D: ), but in reviewing it, I can't deny how well the characters were written, how easy it was to read, how much I loved the narrator and his observations about life, and the style this book was written in. The topics dealt with were well-handled. Things like racism, mental illness, friendship, truth, and lies. However, I do feel like it raised a lot of questions and left most of them unanswered.... but then again, that was where the MC was. He went on a journey through the book that wasn't completed. He ended it more unsure (though more experienced) than when it began. If indeed it was "ended". Each of the characters was unique. Even the antagonists I felt sorry for at points. And I especially liked Jerome Foxworthy's family, they were fun. Jerome himself is witty and likable, but realistically flawed. Overall, I enjoyed this book.

[Alan Mendoza · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't even know where to start with this book. All I know is this book took me on a crazy ride. This tale about two friends, Jerome, a boy too smart for his own good, and Bix, a boy bombarded by travesties that took a toll on him. Both boys isolated. This book is a beautiful story about friendship but at the same time, the twistedness of the human mind. I enjoyed this book so much, as I felt really invested in the characters' way of being, why they are the way they are and how they deal with the world around them. This book was also thought provoking, causing me to go back and read a passage again because I'm left in awe or shock and need to process what just happened. I'm left thinking about it after days of reading it and trying to comprehend 100% of what this book has to offer, from the surface level story of two similar, yet so different pair of boys, go the deeper level of questioning what is healthy. Best book I've read.

[Tati Buitrago · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is about the main charactor Jerome who loves his friends and basketball. He grew up without a father and was a black boy and got abused as a kid and struggled with racism while in school from the other kids. He played basketball to get his mind off things when the kids in school were being mean. Or when he would get mad at his mom he wouldnt have anyone to talk to. So he always played basketball to get his mind off things. He would always give his friends advice when they were upset but would never listen to them or take his own advice.
One thing i liked about this book was how everything was very detailed and specific with all the details wiithin the whole book. One think i did not like about this book was that it was very slow with the topics and events that it had in the books. I would reccomend this book to people who play basketball to understand better.

[Meepspeeps · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an intense and well-crafted story. I suspect peeps had strong reactions to it when it first came out (i.e. should we have this in the school library?) because it weaves a cautionary tale about ongoing and systemic racism in the USA relevant over thirty years after its publication. The main story is about a smart black kid and his relationship to a gifted white boy with problems. The descriptions of both sports and emotions are electric. "We were a little troop of gloom, quiet as if we were all on our way back from surgery where they took out our vocal cords and smile muscles." I recommend this to anyone who wants to feast on well-written teen to adult literature and also have some meaty topics to discuss at a book club.