Basketball Bats

Gym Shorts #1

by Betty Hicks, Betty Hicks

UNBEATABLE TEAM--MAYBE. UNBEATABLE READING--FOR SURE! The first novel in Betty Hick's Gym Shorts series is a slam-dunk for newly-independent readers. Henry and his friends on Rockford Road are a basketball team unstoppable on their driveway court. But without team t-shirts or an official name can they take on The Tigers, a team that plays at the huge YWCA and has a player old enough to shave? Young readers will cheer as The Bats take on a name and stick together to beat the odds.
Basketball Bats is a 2009 Bank Street - Best Children's Book of the Year.

Genres: Sports, Realistic Fiction, Childrens, Basketball

64 pages, Hardcover

First published April 1, 2008

About the author

Betty Hicks has drawn on her experience and love for sports in Gym Shorts, her new series for seven to ten year-olds. Growing up, Betty enjoyed everything: basketball, swimming, softball, horseback riding, field hockey, ice skating, tennis, skiing, and more. As an adult, she’s an avid fan of college basketball and the Olympic Games, and, an average fan of just about everything else you can think of.

In Gym Shorts, Betty welcomed the opportunity to provide younger readers with books about different types of athletics—basketball, soccer, swimming, baseball, track, tennis—you name it! But she especially wanted to write books that weren’t just about the wins and losses on game day. Friendships, fears, school, parents, pets, homework—all the things that weave their way into the lives of kids who play sports—are a crucial part of every story.

Betty has also put her own single and stepparent experiences to good use in five additional books for eight to twelve year-olds. Depicting funny, true-to-life family situations, Betty brings laughter and meaning to the experiences of growing up, not just in a divorced family, but in any family.

Betty has a BA in English and an MFA in the Study and Writing of Children’s Literature from Hollins University. She has published stories in Highlights and Pockets magazines, is a member of The Society for Children’s Book Writers and Illustrators, and has worked as a book reviewer for Children’s Literature.

She and her husband, Bill, live in Greensboro, North Carolina. She spends much of her non-writing time reading, traveling, playing golf, and pursuing her photography hobby. But her number one favorite pastime is hanging out with her five grandchildren. Not only do they bring her joy, they unknowingly give her exciting subjects and plots for every new book!

Reviews

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

In this first book in the "Gym Shorts" series, author Betty Hicks offers a short, but exciting sports tale filled with action with sports language peppered throughout. The main characters represent a mix of ethnicities and highlight the skills of female players as well as male. However, the narrative voice and dialogue are more focused on a male audience. Fun black and white illustrations by Adam McCauley, who also illustrated the Time Warp Trio series by Jon Scieszka, are throughout the book and help to maintain the book’s action and interest. This is a satisfying early chapter book for sports fans with a nice message about teamwork and the importance of playing fair.

[Kimberly · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very easy, fun little early chapter book. This kind of thing would be perfect for a kid who is beyond easy readers but not quite ready to give up illustrations and brevity. It's a simple story that kids will identify with.

[Cynthia Peacock]

This is the first novel in Betty Hick’s Gym Short series and is perfect for readers transitioning from brief simple text into longer, more complex texts. The book has large pictures that take up half of a page while the other half is devoted to the text. After reading this story I could have students get together with their reading groups and design a T-shirt for the group just like Henry did for his baseball team to boost their morale. The focus of the book could be on character traits. What T-shirt design could each group come up with that would represent everyone in the group.

[Jessica Breighner · Rating 4 out of 5]

UNBEATABLE TEAM--MAYBE. UNBEATABLE READING--FOR SURE! The first novel in Betty Hick's Gym Shorts series is a slam-dunk for newly-independent readers.

Henry and his friends on Rockford Road are a basketball team unstoppable on their driveway court. But without team t-shirts or an official name can they take on The Tigers, a team that plays at the huge YWCA and has a player old enough to shave? Young readers will cheer as The Bats take on a name and stick together to beat the odds.

[Bobby Simic · Rating 3 out of 5]

Summary:
Henry and his friends are challenged to a best-out-of-three basketball game by a group of nasty kids.
Strengths:
Once it gets going, it's amusing and has its funny parts. A nice message about teamwork.
Weaknesses:
I didn't understand the ending. Why challenge them to a one-on-one game of Around-the-World? Why not play as a team? Didn't make sense.

[Karen]

The basketball book in the Gym Shorts series. Book is for the beginning reader or for parent to read aloud to k-2nd grade. Good lesson teaching and how to keep friends rather than get mad and leave them.

[Erica · Rating 5 out of 5]

Don't have a word for it to awesome!

Don't have a word for it to awesome!

awesome amazing cool love it! too cool for a book! do not know what to say it is to amazing!

[Kristen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a good choice for sports fiction for early elementary readers. Vocabulary is controlled, there are frequent illustrations breaking up the text, and the plot is simple yet features a good mix of sports-related action and emotion-driven events.

[Amy Brown · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another book in the Gym Shorts series.

[Kim · Rating 2 out of 5]

Not quite sure if this qualifies as an early chapter book. The plot is simple enought and the books are short but the words used seem too difficult for 2nd - 3rd graders.

[Luke "Bob" · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was sometimes confusing. I did not like it that much.

[Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

i love this book

[Mckinley · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great series issuing sport contexts to deal with real issues that the characters face.