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Slam Dunk by Christopher, Matt [Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,2004]
Slam Dunk by Christopher, Matt. Published by Little, Brown Books for Young Readers,2004, Paperback
Paperback
First published August 1, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
October 8, 2014
I read the book "Slam Dunk" by Matt Christopher. I liked the book mostly because I can relate to the main character. I didn't like the start of the book though. It was bland and not very interesting.
The plot was very good. It was about a 13 year old boy who is the leader of a basketball team. His team went undefeated and won the championship last year. This year, all of his teammates left or got hurt. He is now the only leader of the team. One of his teammates moved and can't play with him. The other, got injured in a car accident and also can't play. He has to play with all the bench players and live up to the expectations on last season. He gets into a fight with his teammates about hogging the ball to much and makes the team lose some games. The teammate who got hurt, helped them get together and play as a team. In the end, they get back together as friends and play the final game. They lost the game, but they tried they're hardest and made everyone proud.
I would strongly recommend this book to every male basketball player. A younger audience would probably like this book better. It shows good teamwork and overcoming adversity to try your best.
The plot was very good. It was about a 13 year old boy who is the leader of a basketball team. His team went undefeated and won the championship last year. This year, all of his teammates left or got hurt. He is now the only leader of the team. One of his teammates moved and can't play with him. The other, got injured in a car accident and also can't play. He has to play with all the bench players and live up to the expectations on last season. He gets into a fight with his teammates about hogging the ball to much and makes the team lose some games. The teammate who got hurt, helped them get together and play as a team. In the end, they get back together as friends and play the final game. They lost the game, but they tried they're hardest and made everyone proud.
I would strongly recommend this book to every male basketball player. A younger audience would probably like this book better. It shows good teamwork and overcoming adversity to try your best.
November 23, 2017
The Book I'm reviewing is Called Slam Dunk which is a fast paced sports book written by Matthew Christopher. Slam Dunk is based around the protagonist Julien and the supporting characters Julien's best friends Barry,Grady and his Coach. The book is set in Julien's 6th year of primary school with his basketball team the Tornadoes, it is mainly set in the Basketball Courts but is also set in Julians school.
Slam dunk is based around the protagonist and his journey throughout the book, Julien is a talented basketball player who was the teams star centre and led his team along with Barry and Grady to last Seasons Victory, But as Julien Shows up for his first Team practice to his astonishment he realises he is the only other star player left as his friends have sustained injuries, Instead Julien finds himself surrounded by new comers and bench players from last year, Julien struggles to build a relationship with them all and starts to argue with some of the players. I can relate to this as i have once had team where I was just constantly arguing with them so i know what it feels like.
Slam Dunk has important themes that can relate to everyone, for example determination, determination is what drives this book, without determination Julien would have just quit, another big theme in this book is friendship, the friendship between these three boys is phenomenal, Julien even visited Barry in the hospital to ask for advice on his situation.
My favourite character is Barry as he is competitive and athletic yet sweet and considerate, he helps Julian and gives him advice on what do, Barry has a massive impact on Julien and the decisions he makes.
My favourite part of the book was when Julien played in a Basketball tournament against other really good teams such as the Falcons, what i liked about this Scene is the Majority Julien showed through the tournament as the opposition team were smashing his team at half time, he could of just gave up and quit, but Julien showed the resilience to keep on going to keep on pushing and he took the game to a draw, with extra time, Julien showed a great amount of majority and courage, to go from a whiney little child at the beginning of the season till now showing great leadership and persistence it shows how much he grew throughout the book, Julien also started relationships with the other players as Brad quotes “ We'll get 'em next time” as they walk away.
Although there are some things i like about the book there are some things i dont like, for example i dont like how the Author focused most of his attention to the teams trainings, The Author should've been for creative and could've wrote more about the games, the book also mainly focused on Julien when i think it should've showed the growth of the relationships between the players and how they grew as a team, it was difficult to care or relate to these other characters as they were hardly mentioned. I also think the author could've been more clever with the ending as the book ended on a loss when i think it should've ended on a win so it doesn't feel like all their hard work was for nothing. Overall i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and advice to 8-17 year old boys or girls who enjoy playing basketball or who are competitive, i rate this book a 4/5.
Luca Levy
590 Words
Slam dunk is based around the protagonist and his journey throughout the book, Julien is a talented basketball player who was the teams star centre and led his team along with Barry and Grady to last Seasons Victory, But as Julien Shows up for his first Team practice to his astonishment he realises he is the only other star player left as his friends have sustained injuries, Instead Julien finds himself surrounded by new comers and bench players from last year, Julien struggles to build a relationship with them all and starts to argue with some of the players. I can relate to this as i have once had team where I was just constantly arguing with them so i know what it feels like.
Slam Dunk has important themes that can relate to everyone, for example determination, determination is what drives this book, without determination Julien would have just quit, another big theme in this book is friendship, the friendship between these three boys is phenomenal, Julien even visited Barry in the hospital to ask for advice on his situation.
My favourite character is Barry as he is competitive and athletic yet sweet and considerate, he helps Julian and gives him advice on what do, Barry has a massive impact on Julien and the decisions he makes.
My favourite part of the book was when Julien played in a Basketball tournament against other really good teams such as the Falcons, what i liked about this Scene is the Majority Julien showed through the tournament as the opposition team were smashing his team at half time, he could of just gave up and quit, but Julien showed the resilience to keep on going to keep on pushing and he took the game to a draw, with extra time, Julien showed a great amount of majority and courage, to go from a whiney little child at the beginning of the season till now showing great leadership and persistence it shows how much he grew throughout the book, Julien also started relationships with the other players as Brad quotes “ We'll get 'em next time” as they walk away.
Although there are some things i like about the book there are some things i dont like, for example i dont like how the Author focused most of his attention to the teams trainings, The Author should've been for creative and could've wrote more about the games, the book also mainly focused on Julien when i think it should've showed the growth of the relationships between the players and how they grew as a team, it was difficult to care or relate to these other characters as they were hardly mentioned. I also think the author could've been more clever with the ending as the book ended on a loss when i think it should've ended on a win so it doesn't feel like all their hard work was for nothing. Overall i thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and advice to 8-17 year old boys or girls who enjoy playing basketball or who are competitive, i rate this book a 4/5.
Luca Levy
590 Words
October 30, 2017
Personal response
This was an interesting book because it shows that even if you have a bad team doesn't mean you won't win. It shows how easy it is to get along with new people if you just go and hang out with them. Barry helped Julian give the new players a chance.
Plot
Julian was the star player last year when they won the championship,and today was the first day of practice. He walked in to see that Gary is the only one playing from last year. After practice started, the coach got informed that Barry had got in a car accident and is in the hospital. It turns out that he will need surgery. Julian is mad, and doesn't want to play with the new players while Gary is trying to be friends with him. Gary wants to hang out with the new players and asked Julian. Julian said he was busy which he really wasn't. The next day, the coaches wanted everybody to go and visit Barry in the hospital. Gary asked Julian if he wanted to come with but he said he was busy again. Gary and Julian get into a fight in the lunchroom the next day. Julian visited Barry separate and Barry said he probably won't be able to play again. Barry also said to Julian that he has to give the new players a chance. Julian apologized to Gary in practice and started hanging out with the new players. The first game was coming up and Barry said he will be there to watch. They started out the first half with them down by two. There was one minute left on the clock and they were still down by two. Gary passed it to Lennie and Lennie threw it the Julian with two seconds left but the pass but the pass was to high and they lost in the end.
Characterization
Julian is the star center and is the best player on the team but is selfish. Gary was the point guard this year and he tried his best to get Julian to like the new players. Barry was the power forward but he got hurt in a car accident that made him get surgery.
Recommendations
I would recommend people who enjoy basketball books that has teamwork in them. This book is good for middle school and high school. This book doesn't have a lot of characters to focus on so it is an easier book to read.
This was an interesting book because it shows that even if you have a bad team doesn't mean you won't win. It shows how easy it is to get along with new people if you just go and hang out with them. Barry helped Julian give the new players a chance.
Plot
Julian was the star player last year when they won the championship,and today was the first day of practice. He walked in to see that Gary is the only one playing from last year. After practice started, the coach got informed that Barry had got in a car accident and is in the hospital. It turns out that he will need surgery. Julian is mad, and doesn't want to play with the new players while Gary is trying to be friends with him. Gary wants to hang out with the new players and asked Julian. Julian said he was busy which he really wasn't. The next day, the coaches wanted everybody to go and visit Barry in the hospital. Gary asked Julian if he wanted to come with but he said he was busy again. Gary and Julian get into a fight in the lunchroom the next day. Julian visited Barry separate and Barry said he probably won't be able to play again. Barry also said to Julian that he has to give the new players a chance. Julian apologized to Gary in practice and started hanging out with the new players. The first game was coming up and Barry said he will be there to watch. They started out the first half with them down by two. There was one minute left on the clock and they were still down by two. Gary passed it to Lennie and Lennie threw it the Julian with two seconds left but the pass but the pass was to high and they lost in the end.
Characterization
Julian is the star center and is the best player on the team but is selfish. Gary was the point guard this year and he tried his best to get Julian to like the new players. Barry was the power forward but he got hurt in a car accident that made him get surgery.
Recommendations
I would recommend people who enjoy basketball books that has teamwork in them. This book is good for middle school and high school. This book doesn't have a lot of characters to focus on so it is an easier book to read.
February 22, 2024
Trying to find books my son will like that is not an audiobook. This one had a great message and good characters. Some of the descriptions of the basketball activity were a little too detailed for a book but my son seemed to like it.
I think it’s a little simple for a fifth grader but in the transition from audiobook to traditional book reading it seemed successful at this age with its story, simplicity and length.
I think it’s a little simple for a fifth grader but in the transition from audiobook to traditional book reading it seemed successful at this age with its story, simplicity and length.
February 10, 2025
Loved these books growing up.
August 4, 2009
dis book waz great i loved it i recommend dis book tu bball players
August 30, 2009
I read this book because it as one of the summer reading choices...but I just don't like basketball books. I thought it was pretty boring.
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July 26, 2009I WANT TO READ THIS BOOK
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews