Learning the Game

by Kevin Waltman

It isn't how you play the game -- it's how you let the game play you. When Nate's team commits a crime, all of his loyalties are tested -- and questioned. A bold hardcover debut.

Over the hot, Indiana summer, Nate's high school basketball team practices on a local court off a row of fraternities. One day after practice, one of the team members suggests breaking into a frat house and looting its contents. Nate goes along with it -- a move he instantly regrets. Soon all of his loyalties are being tested -- with his brother, a town outcast who might be blamed for the crime; with his girlfriend, who he tries to confide in; and with his teammates. A phenomenal novel in the tradition of Chris Crutcher, Rich Wallace, and Walter Dean Myers' SLAM.

Genres: Sports, Young Adult

224 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 2005

About the author

Kevin Waltman was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and spent his teens and twenties in Indiana--time spent mostly around basketball courts and political events. He moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2001 to get his MFA in fiction at The University of Alabama. There, he met his wife, Jessica Kidd. He now lives in Coker, Alabama, with Jessica, their daughter Calla, and their dog Henry. He teaches. He writes. He gardens. He cuts kudzu from their woods.

He is the author of four y.a. novels. The first two are Nowhere Fast and Learning the Game. The two most recent--Next and Slump--are the first two parts of a four-part series from Cinco Puntos Press. The third in the series, Pull, will be out in late 2015.

You can see more about Kevin, or find teaching guides to some of his work, at kevinwaltman.com..

Reviews

[Jeylon Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story so far has made me anticipate what is about to happen next. Learning the game was a book about a high school basketball player named Nate who made a bad decision. The book gave me a feeling in my head that every person on planet Earth makes mistakes, and we all learn from them eventually. This story has also made me look at life different from a personal standpoint. The main character in the book chose to be a follower instead of a reader. The moral of the story for me is don’t steal from people who are living good and work for their hard earned dollars. Karma will eventually come back on you. The feeling the main character had at first was confidence , but now that he thinks about what him and his teammates did now he starts having regrets. The bad feeling I had against the book was the author never described what race the main character of the book was. He just said that the character was tall and had a nice jumpshot. One reason the author decided not to reveal the characters race is because the author wanted every reader to view themselves as if they were the main character. If the author would have made the main character a specific race then the book would not have had as much problems. The main character has to make smarter decisions. This book really put hope in me. No matter how bad I mess up there is light on the other side of the tunnel. Everyone can relate to the character because everyone has been peer pressured into doing something they knew was not right from the start.

[Josmeer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning the game book was so good. I really enjoyed it, Madelyn recommended the book to me. Nate’s basketball team kind of reminds me of hidden valleys basketball team. He is addicted to getting better every day.They all argue and fight each other but they don’t know that it’s only making them better. Every player on that team was very competitive and that’s what makes them better. Nate was peer pressured to doing something that he really didn’t want to do. He broke into a frat house and stealing stuff out of it. The players do it so they could make money and after all this was done Nate confesses to what he had done. Which causes him to lose his girlfriend and his teammates trust. All because of the team stealing from the frat house causes them to be suspended from basketball the entire year. Nate did the right thing and confessed even though he shouldn’t have stolen from the fraternity in the first place. I think it’s messed up that his girlfriend broke up with him. She was only with him because he was on the team. My favorite quote is "It isn't how you play the game it’s how you let the game play you."

[Collin Anglese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Have you ever read the book “Learning the Game”, by Kevin Waltman? If not, then I highly recommend this story, for it is a very entertaining, exciting book. It’s about the main character, Nate Johnson, who is a basketball player and practices with his team everyday in the summer at a park. One day, one of the basketball players, Branson, convinces everyone to break into the fraternity right next to the park with him so they can sell the stuff and earn tons of money. Nate knows that it’s not the right thing to do, but he is scared that he would get made fun of for not stealing, so he goes right along with it. Afterwards, Nate is so nervous that they will get caught that he talks to is girlfriend, Lorrie McIntere, about it, for she tells Nate to stay low and to not confess. Everyone is talking about the theft at the fraternity, and Nate feels so guilty that he ends up confessing that he did it. In the end, Lorrie breaks up with him and the basketball players are mad at him.
I enjoyed this book because of its plot. This is the only book I read that has got me upset over some of the stuff that happens in it! This is the also the only book I have ever read about star athletes breaking into a house and stealing things. I love the action parts in the book, and I think this is one of my favorite books. This book has tons of surprises, so I highly recommend that you read this book once again!
What I disliked about this book was how sad it got. Nate’s girlfriend dumped him and his teammates, which were his best friends, hated him for confessing to the police, for now they are suspended from basketball for an entire year! I felt really bad for Nate in this book, but he did the right thing and confessed., even though he shouldn’t have stole from the fraternity in the first place.
The theme of this book is to not be afraid to do what is right. I believe that this is the theme because Nate did the right thing, even though he did lose his girlfriend and his friends, and if Nate would’ve stood up to Branson and said no, none of these sad events would’ve happened.
That is my book review for “Learning the Game”, by Kevin Waltman. If you have read this book, what did you think? Do you agree with my theme? Clearly, dont read this book if you don’t like sports or drama.

[Matt Jackson]

The novel "Learning the Game" by Kevin Waltman was written to entertain readers with a exciting book about a young boy playing basketball and the decisions he makes. This book was also written to inform readers that making the right choice in life can effect you and your lifestyle a whole lot. In "Learning the Game" Nate is faced with paying the consequences after participating in a robbery with his basketball team. He is soon faced with 2 bad ending choice, which one of them he must choose to act on. He realizes that he should have just done the right thing in the first place and avoided this whole mess.
The theme of this book is telling us that you should always do the right thing, because doing the wrong thing will come back and haunt you. This shows how bad the decision of making the wrong choice in life can turn out for the complete worse. The author wants to show you want can happen, and what wouldn't have happened, had Nate just walked away from the wrong doing.
This novel was written in third person narrative. We know what everyone says, how people feel and what they think. I think this makes the book a whole, because we really see what Nate goes through, how he feels and then finally what he decides to do. This comes into play nicely, when Nate is trying to decide what he should do, telling the truth will hurt his friendships, basketball chances, and get him in some serious trouble. But on the other hand if he keeps the robbery a secret then his brother will be force to leave town and he will lose his friend who has been innocent the whole time.
I really like this book because it gives the reader a lot to think about. They read this and put them selves in that situation to see what they would do, and how would they handle it. Would they lie or tell the truth? Would they deal with the harsh consequences? I would recommend this book to a lot of people, not only sports fans but any teenager or kid. Because it does entertain, but it also teaches a good moral lesson people should learn and know. This book gives the reader lots to think about and how shows them the difference between right and wrong. I would give this book 5 stars because it really intrigued me, once I started reading, I didn't want to stop.

[Trevor Thomas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Learning the Game by Kevin Waltman is one of the best books I have read so far. This book is about a man named Nate who plays basketball and lives in Indiana. He gets into trouble because he steals a lot of things from a fraternity with his teammates. They go through a lot of things dealing with there crime, mentally, physically, and emotionally. The ending was a real Cliff Hanger. This book is one of my favorites because I can relate to it when it deals with basketball. Nate and I both always want to get better at the game of basketball. Basketball is my passion and so it is his. If you love sports, particularly basketball, you will have an easy connection to this book. The book has direct connections with are learning goals. analyzing how characters change throughout a book, analyzing how characters interact with other characters, and how complex characters develop the theme of a piece. Nate changes throughout the book. He also changes the way he interacts with the other characters in the book. I would recommend this book to people who are interested in sports or the game of basketball. This books a great lesson behind it for all younger children, and a good story for older readers. This is the perfect book.

[Wesley]

The book, Learning the Game, by Kevin Waltman, is about a high school boy named Nate on the basketball team. He is very passionate about playing basketball for the four years that he is in highschool and he wouldn't want anything to get in the way of it. But a boy named Branson, pressures him and other members of the basketball team to break in, to a fraternity and steal electronics and other things that hold some kind of value. Nate unsure of why he did it, is pressured by his girlfriend into staying quiet about the incident. Afterward, when Nate reunites with his older brother, Marvin, he convinces Nate to confess to his coach what he has done. After doing this after his coach already asked the whole team if they were involved he was kicked off the team for the year. After he got kicked off the team, to make matters worse, his girlfriend says that they can not be together anymore because he's not on the basketball team. So Nate comes to the realization that she was only going out with him for his identity in school, for being on the basketball team. My favorite quote is "It isn't how you play the game -- it's how you let the game play you."

[Lane Rohrich · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was a very interesting, attention consuming book. Yes, it's about basketball but it also has more to it then just the sport. Nate, a high schooler from Indiana, is hoping to get a starting position on the basketball squad. He has quite the past though. When Nate was younger, his older brother Marvin made a terrible mistake. Marvin and his buddy Jeff were messing around with a gun and Marvin accidentally shot Jeff. Nate gets terrorized by it though by people making simple gestures like a hand representing a gun and a finger clenching a trigger. He just passes it by and ignores it though. The setting is summer time and Nate is playing ball at the local frat of Sigma Chi. One of Nate's teammates persuade the team to go steal from the local fraternity. They stuff it all in a van and are promised money back. Later on, the cops can't figure out who did it but Nate comes clean to his coach. Nate and his teammates have to sit out and the only one that can play for upperclassmen that season is Jackson. Jackson walked away from the robbery. Overall, this book keeps your attention and has a great plot. Very good book.

[Erica Mckenzie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It obviously was about basketball, but it actually involved more then just that. It has interesting situations that really happen in life, like; messing around and playing with a gun when your a kid, and then accidently shooting your best friend. It shows you how some people can't deal with that and move on so they start doing drugs and getting in to trouble. This book teaches you many lessons, one including how you cant hide from the truth, because there's that feeling of guilt that you get, especially when another person that's very close to you might get in trouble for something that you did. This book is a quick read and It has a pretty fast pace, but does get slow at some points. I thought this was a great book and I recomend it to anyone that enjoys basketball and the other life situations that I mentioned above.

[Kyle Ross]

I really enjoyed reading this book. It obviously was about basketball, but it actually involved more then just that. It has interesting situations that really happen in life, like; messing around and playing with a gun when your a kid, and then accidently shooting your best friend. It shows you how some people can't deal with that and move on so they start doing drugs and getting in to trouble. This book teaches you many lessons, one including how you cant hide from the truth, because there's that feeling of guilt that you get, especially when another person that's very close to you might get in trouble for something that you did. This book is a quick read and It has a pretty fast pace, but does get slow at some points. I thought this was a great book and I recomend it to anyone that enjoys basketball and the other life situations that I mentioned above.

[Kenny · Rating 4 out of 5]

Learning the Game
by Kevin Waltman
The author of this book main idea was to convince the readers to make the right decisions in anything that you do. I connected with him in a couple ways because in his story the main character like me . Saveen is very good at basketball and is the leader of the team. One night him and friends went out to party after a big win. Saveen chose to not drink because he is also the driver. So he chose to stay sober because if not there could have been a possibility of someone getting hurt that night. Another reason why I connected to this book is because of the work ethic he puts in. He is addicted to getting better every day! As soon as I picked up the book the title caught my eyes!

[Caleb E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have just recently finished reading the book Learning The Game by Kevin Waltman. It was a very good book about a kid named Nate that shoes through a lot of problems. He gets into a lot of trouble when he steals electronics from a fraternity with his teammates. He confesses to his coach about what he did and gets kicked off of the team for a year. Things got a lot worse when after that his girlfriend breaks up with him just because he wasn't on the team anymore. This book can really relate to a lot of high school kids. if you like basketball I would really recommend reading this book. It has a lot to do with him on the court but then it also has to deal with him and his problems off the court to. Overall it was a very good book.

[Lorenzo Kwolek · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book! It was a really good book about the game of basketball and life. I don't think that this book lacked anything it had a lot of things going on. And making important decisions about things that conflict with basketball because of his life. I don't read a lot but this is one of the better books I have read.
I liked how the book was wrote with important decisions being made with basketball tied into other important things in life. I also liked how the team would meet up and hang out and you would learn more things about the people not just from the court but at there "meet-ups" also. If you like basketball or even if you don't, I would recommend this book to you. This book is so great definitely a book i would put on a top five list if i made one.

[Yusef · Rating 3 out of 5]

i liked this book because the main character loves basketball the same as i do. he plays the same as i use to. i use to think i could only do one thing and didn't have to worry about anything else. this kid was a good shooter but really didn't work on anything else.
i would recommend this book to people that like to play sports and they want to learn how other people see the game. or to people that think that play basketball and can only do a curtain thing on the court, they can read this book to learn what happens if you don't practice everything.

[Jaylen Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Stealing never gets you anywhere, except for in jail. Nate and his basketball buddies steal from a local frat where they also played basketball during the summer. Branson was the one who convinced everyone to steal items from the frat. They get let off easy by only having to do community service and speaking to younger kids about what they did. But, it’s a hard decision for Nate to make. Should he tell or not? The starting point guard, Jackson, knew to leave and have nothing to do with the stealing. Nate let Jackson down, by helping the other 8 guys. Jackson is the only one who gets to play.

[Leighton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was great and i learned that sometimes you just have to tell the truth the first time you are given the chance

[James Caesar]

It is a good book about a guy who started playing basketball and now he has to choose everything else or the game.

[Steven Duron · Rating 4 out of 5]

The things that happen with Nate is all dealing with the robbery and with that everything starts going down hill from there.

[Alaysia Styles]

Ok book

[Parker Baer]

I think it was a very interesting book, about basketball and about life. You can't just go through life without just doing 1 thing. You have to do other things to become successful.