Playing Without the Ball: A Novel in Four Quarters

by Rich Wallace

Some might think Jay was cheated. By his mother, who walked out when he was 9. By his dad, who took a job a couple thousand miles away and let him stay above a bar in a one-room apartment. By the basketball coach, who saw his talent but chose youth over determination. And even Jay’s not sure whether this last year of high school in the small town of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, will add up to anything. But just when senior year seems a waste–kissing the wrong girls, offending the right ones, playing basketball on a church league with other “rejects”–life begins to click again. The church league gives him some of the best basketball he’s ever played, and the right girl gives him a second chance. Jay may not know what he wants next out of life, but he’s beginning to get a clue about how to play the game.

Genres: Sports, Fiction, Young Adult

Hardcover

First published January 1, 2000

Reviews

[Yazan Ammari · Rating 1 out of 5]

In this book there is a boy named Jay McLeod he is 17 years old and he likes basketball a lot. His mother left him when he was 9 because she was an alcoholic and she was embarrassed of her self so she left Jay and Jays father. Jay found a better job than his old one in California and asks Jay to move with him. Jay doesn't want to move with his dad because the school basketballs team is way too good for him to make the cut so he decides to stay. He lives by himself on top of the bar but he has to help clean the bar out at night. He wants to stay senior year because he wants to make the varsity team. He stays up late nights trying to work hard and make the team. He makes friends on the way and trouble choosing whether to stay or not.


Some literary devices that the author uses and its effectiveness is that he is very descriptive when he brings up new characters or places he is very descriptive and explains the slightest detail. The book is very good in details because he always explains it and i very good at explaining it. When Jay gets in a game you could almost imagine whats happening because of how much descriptive sentences there are in this book. I feel the theme of this book is too always find the positive in your life because what some teens would do is give up and turn to negative influences but Jay took it as motivation and started to work harder and harder until he could make the team.


What i like about this book is how good the detail is. Its very easy to know the setting and get a feel of what the characters in the book are really feeling like. What i don't like about this book is that is very easy to fall asleep to this book. There's nothing entertaining about a kid trying to make a basketball team. The book was really boring tried to read because i didn't like the book at all. This book is great for people who like an underdog basketball story so this book does not fall in my type of genre.

[Angela · Rating 2 out of 5]

I can honestly say that I am not a "sports book" person so I'd classify the book as ok. There is some more mature content so I'd be hesitant to recommend it to my students, particularly my middle school students.

[Austin Sutton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think it was good, but it could have had a more conclusive ending.

[Jomar Sullivan · Rating 2 out of 5]

In the parts of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, as his senior year begins, Jay McLeod plans to decide his next steps for the future of which if he is going to stay and try to build in life in Pennsylvania or would he go back to his father all the way in Los Angeles and his mother has been gone since he was eight or nine years old. His favorite thing to do is to play basketball but he hasn’t had luck in the past as he gotten cut from the team for the last two years. As he sets up his alarm clock every day at 6 am to go to the neighborhood YMCA to practice. He feels determined to make it this year but the little surprises in his life began to unravel when one of his parents is back in town, the girl he had a crush on (which he had dreams of her) begins to look his way. With his senior year closing down, all the pressure and new issues occurring he is being distracted from his final decision and it starts to make Jay crazy and he is not sure of how he is going to make it by.

People who might be interested in this book is really not easy to find out. As if you can just judge the book from its cover, you might suspect that the book is for basketball players but in reality terms it’s really deeper than that. Rather than just being about basketball it follows a high school senior just trying to find out who he really is and with is mother leaving him when he was about 8 or 9 years old he goes through many of problems that you wouldn’t really expect at all. As a non-joking way to say this, the people who would be interested in this book would most likely watch Lifetime movies.

Honestly, I really didn’t enjoy this book (Playing without the ball). I think the book wasn’t really good because it couldn’t bring out a main conflict rather than many small conflicts/issues. I heard this was supposed to be somewhat realistic in which I can see if this was a middle school kid in a Disney movie, but since it wasn’t, many of things wasn’t really believable one bit. I was highly disappointed because I couldn’t really get into the book at all. Jay (the protagonist) will make you mad just listening to the really poor thought and dumb decisions he has made during the book. Followed by the unreal situations and plots this book feels like an eternity when read front to back.

[Adam]

The purpose of the author writing this book was to tell the life story of a kid in high school who lives and supports himself while playing basketball. Jay’s father left for a better job in a different part of California. Jay had a chance to go and live with his father but Jay new if he did go with him that he would never get to play on the basketball team. The new town that Jay’s father moved to have a much better basketball team then the town Jay lives in. I believe the author want to explain to other people what it’s like to not have a father around.
The theme of this book is to find the positive in life. Jay’s mom left him when he was little which is bad enough for a young kid but then later in his life to have his dad leave him too would be extremely hard for a young kid in high school. Many kids or young adults would turn to negative influences like drugs or alcohol. Instead Jay faced reality and realized that if he wants to have a chance to play basketball he is going to have to live on his own and get a job to support himself. Most young adults would not be able to turn that issue into a positive like jay was able to and that's why I believe that is the theme of this book.
I believe that this book was written in a descriptive way and I think it was effective by doing so. The author was very descriptive on what Jays apartment was like and also what it was like working a bar kitchen. The author described Jays co-workers good in great detail, by telling me about their; background, what each person is wearing and even what its like when he has to do his job duties.
I would rate this book a 6 out of 10 for a couple of reasons. The reason I rate it kind of low is because I had a hard time keeping interest in the book. This book didn't really give me the feeling to want to keep reading on. The reason I gave it a 6 out of 10 is because of how descriptive the author was even about the smallest things. Overall this book isn't terrible but its not the best book I've read either.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Playing Without the Ball
Rich Wallace
213p.
Dell Laurel-Leaf
ISBN: 0440229723

Playing Without the Ball

Jay McLeod is 17 and is a senior in Sturbridge. This is his last year to have a chance of playing varsity basketball. His mother left when he was nine because she was an alcoholic and was a shamed of herself. His father found a job in California and asks Jay to come with him but he wanted to stay. This leaves Jay alone living on top of a bar by himself. The bar owner lets Jay live up there but he has to help in the kitchen at night.

Jay is not the best basketball player but he loves to play. In the beginning Jay is training hard for the tryouts. When the time comes he got cut because the coach wanted younger players. Since he did not make it he joined a church team. This is when is life starts to get interesting. He joins the Methodists which have their own team and have both genders in the team. Also there are no adult coaches to tell them what to do. During this time he meets a lot of new friends. Besides playing basketball he works at the bar and meets a nice girl name Julie. Also there is band that plays there once a week and the lead singer is named Spit. She is a friend of Jay and has problems with drugs.

I enjoy reading this book because it is about basketball. Wallace does a great job describing all the details in the game. While you read about them playing basketball you can picture what they are doing. Also Wallace does a great job creating each character. Besides talking about basketball there is also love in this book. This book has interesting ends to the story. The end of the book leaves you wanting to know more.

This book is great for a person who likes sports. Also it is a great book about rock and roll music and a little romance. I would recommend this book if you are looking for something to read just for fun. If you like what I have told you so far you should definitely read this book.

[Troy Fanton]

6 Copies

[Matt]

A kid named Jay was at the age of 9 and his mother abandoned him. Jay’s dad got ahold of Jay and took him to live in an apartments above a bar. In transition Jay started school and started to play basketball and the coach saw his talent and its was great. As the day came to entering high school he was a great basketball player and made it all the way through to start varsity sophomore year. Junior year he decided to make some bad decisions hanging out with the wrong kids. Senior year he didn't know what to do after school so Jay’s not sure whether this last year of high school in the small town of Sturbridge, Pennsylvania, will add up to anything.

[Gabriel Cravedi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book relates to a lot of viewers with troubled parents, having to live on the streets and deal with all the drama on the streets. Basketball is his only escape and its the only thing keeping him alive. He has a lot of stress and with basketball, he is able to take his stress out on something. This best relates to most people growing up the same way, needing a thing to do to just forget of his own life and live a new one. The difference is that he made it with basketball. Where are his viewers going through this? Still out on the streets. This is basically a key to your success. Take it to advantage now before its too late

[Kaylee Stockman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Jay is a 17 year old who lives on his own. He lives above the restaurant where he works as the chef. His mother left him when he was 9 years old and his father took a job far away. He loves to play basketball and tries out for the school basketball team. He gets cut from the school team because he was already a senior and there was a younger person with the same ability. He joins a church team and has to start going to church and being involved with the church. The church team has a good season for having a small team.

[Asha · Rating 2 out of 5]

IRB#5 This book started out really slow. But the further I got in it the better it got. I wouldn’t recommend this book to any die hard basketball players because it might leave them disappointed. When I finally finish this book it left me saying to myself, “Is this it. Is this the end of the book”. Overall I felt that Richie Walker could have done a better job writing this novel.

[T]

I think this is a really good book i enjoyed this very much and i think i will be looking for Rich Wallace's books again. They way that he writes his story really reflects to me and he just writes about the topics that i enjoy reading, its basketball,girls and victory.

[Along · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm currently doing a bibliography assignment for my adolescent literature class and I chose to do it on basketball. Thus, I've been reading up on all these YA b-ball books..

[C&C Library · Rating 4 out of 5]

I like that this is about a player who’s not good enough to make the team but for whom basketball is very important. Interesting voice.

[Anson De lucia · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really good book for those who love the game.

[Gabe R · Rating 3 out of 5]

"I think this is a good book for people who are interested into sports and teenage drama that includes a lot of drama about relationship and things like that"

[Noa Kindred · Rating 2 out of 5]

It was pretty good as far as the ending goes I don't want to spoil it but it's probably the best part of the book

[Deb (Readerbuzz) Nance · Rating 3 out of 5]

Senior doesn't make the team. Resonated with me.