Blue Star Rapture

by James W. Bennett

T.J. Nucci may not be the best player at basketball camp, but he knows how to work the system. He even knows how to handle his buddy Tyron, who's got talent but not brains. If T.J. can help the college recruiters who want a piece of Tyron, the recruiters will help T.J. -- it's only fair, right? But not all the people T.J. encounters that summer are what they seem to be. Street agents, scouts, coaches, and everyone's selling something different. Then T.J. meets LuAnn, a troubled girl from the bible camp across the river. She says she's been saved, but her smiles mask a desperation that leads to tragedy. Suddenly T.J.'s not so sure of his own choices anymore. What's it all about? Can T.J. learn to play the power game and come out on top...or is he just another pawn?

Genres: Young Adult, Sports

208 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published April 1, 1998

About the author

Writer James Bennett draws heavily on personal experience in his novels for young adult readers. His high school-aged protagonists are often emotionally or intellectually confused individuals unable to summon the emotional strength to deal with the circumstances that confront them in school, at home, and in other social situations. Only the caring, compassionate support of others can provide Bennett's characters with a resilient lifeline to adulthood. "I would like my readers to recognize that the handicapped are not throw-away people," Bennett told Publishers Weekly interviewer Lynda Brill Comerford. "Within them lies enormous courage and a strong nourishing drive."

Reviews

[Kennyunitas19]

This book was extremely good at letting the characters come into place. in recent times, the story relates to people who are interested in basketball and want to understand what a lower class player, like t.j, has to go through to be recognized as a good player. the camps tyron and t.j go to are for a little more wealthier players who can afford it. they can't. this book is for people who want a true basketball story.

[Richard Lin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Plot Summary:
This book is about T.J., an average person in all aspects. However, his best friend, Tyron, is a basketball star who is trying to get into university by sports scholarship. Unfortunately, Tyron is not the most intelligent character, and T.J. has to protect him from sketchy street agents looking to recruit his friend. T.J eventually goes to basketball camp with Tyron to look after him, and he ends up meeting a girl from Bible Camp across the river. The girl, Luann is full of smiles, this confuses T.J. because he can see her masking her sadness. T.J. has some deep conversations with Luann and starts to learn things about himself that he never realized before. Soon after leaving camp he finds out in the paper that Luann killed herself. Filled with grief, T.J. re-analyzes his life and changes his ways. T.J. realizes he has not just average and can shine if he applies himself.

Personal Response to the Book:
The book was interesting to me as a basketball fan. It shows the details of how recruiting works even in the high school years. It also shows how much it takes to go to the top and it's not a free ride. However, I felt uncomfortable when the author showed his view of Christianity. James Bennett portrays the Bible Camp Counselor as a manipulator who lures desperate people such as Luann to her Bible Camp for personal gains. The Bible Counselor in this novel was just as shady as the dishonest street agents. Overall, I enjoyed reading this book because the storyline is very realistic and could likely happen to any up-and-coming professional athlete. I would recommend this book to anyone who is a fan of the game of basketball.

Favorite Quotes:

T.J. compares Tyron and himself to the characters of the popular book, Of Mice and Men. T.J. feels like he is George taking care of Tyron/Lennie.
"Tell me about the rabbits, George. Tell me about the part where I get to tend the rabbits, T.J. thought to himself." (page 47)

As T.J.'s conversation with Luann continues to get deeper, he realizes he has committed a lot of sins in his life, but is unsure how to deal with it. This makes T.J. uncomfortable.
"Her casual use of the word sin seemed ominous to T.J. This conversation had gone from irrelevant to a trip on the dark side." (page 95)

T.J. finally realizes he has the potential to do anything if he applies himself. This gives him a new confidence.
"Superman is real, thought T.J. People think superheroes are pretend, but they're really not. (page 161)

[Speak to the Book · Rating 3 out of 5]

Like most of Bennett's works, the plot is much more active in revealing the psychological complexities and dynamism of the characters than in creating riveting situations. However, I was still hooked by this book. T.J. had complicated motivations, wants, and fears that made him feel like a real high school senior. His friendship with Tyron starts off seeming like a simple case of mutual interests and neighborhood, but soon becomes layered with T.J.'s own agenda.

While LuAnn/Ruth Ann unfortunately seems to be Bennett's typical immature, flighty teenage girl, she does fit realistically into the set of circumstances he outlines for her life. Bennett's inclusion of religion enables him to explore manipulation in the religious system and in personal relationships.

As far as T.J. himself goes, I felt that overall he was a well-fleshed out character. He did seem slightly emotionally naive (i.e. not realizing that people who smile all the time aren't necessarily happy), but his development as a character was believable in the context of a dramatic event like suicide. I also really appreciated that Bennett didn't make T.J. the star, since so many of his other protagonists have been the shining superstar character.

Before this novel, I was thinking of abandoning James Bennett and looking for other YA authors. But this one was complex enough to make me think that perhaps he's hitting his stride as an author. To be fair, I'm not a huge sports fan. Part of the reason that I am reading Bennett's work in particular is that I might as well kill two birds with one stone and explore YA and sports fiction together. I think someone really into sports (and actually a teenager in high school) would probably enjoy these books way more.

[Chris Stepanian · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Blue Star Rapture by James W. Bennett is a great book for a high school student. This book was one of the best books i ever read. The book has so much thought and detail put into it and it makes you want to keep reading it forever. The book is about two boys ones name Tyron and the other is t.j. Tyron wants to go to college for basketball but can’t because of grades. So t.j. decides to help him by sneaking into the camp that he enrolled to for help. But by the couple of days there there t.j. realizes that Tyron doesn’t need his help and that he should learn on his own so he ditches the camp. It’s a great story i would recommend it to a person my age for sure.

My favorite part of the book would have to be when t.j. escapes the camp. I love this part of the book because it shows t.js determination to stop helping Tyron, he stops helping Tyron because he feels he should learn on his own without any help and at the same time it’s almost like an action scene. This is also very important to the story because this is where he meets Luann who has the same thoughts as t.j. about the whole learning on his own thing. Also he meets a teacher who helps him get out of the school and teaches him a few lessons on the way out. The reason why this scene is so good to me is because of its amount of detail and information to learn about in real life.at the begging of the book I had no clue that this was coming and it just jumped on me and surprised me and that’s another reason why I like it.

[Manuel Maldonado]

I think this is very good because it's about to high school basketball players. One is very huge recruitment in the nation. The other is good also just not as good as Tyron.The top basketball prospect Tyron gets caught up in the high life will college recruitment. T.j attends a summer church camp. Which he meet a pregnant teenager. In meeting this girl helps him out because she shows him the life that you can still have a good life even though you make some mistakes. And he takes what he learns back with him which he teaches tyron. Which helps him alot. Because it opens his head. not to go down the wrong path.

[Connie · Rating 2 out of 5]

Teen boy is interested in pro basketball. Befriends a girl at a Christian/cult-like center, who later kills herself when she finds out she is pregnant.