Frank

Blacktop #3

by L.J. Alonge, Raúl Allén (Illustrator)

An action-packed basketball series from author LJ Alonge set on the courts of Oakland, CA.

Frank’s not great at staying out of trouble. He’s also not great at driving cars. After his joyride ends in a crash, he’s stuck with a court-appointed Community Mentor for the summer. 

But it’s not too bad. Officer Appleby’s all right. And if anyone can handle a basketball team, a police officer, and a new girl on the horizon, it’s Frank Torres.

Genres: Sports, Realistic Fiction, Fiction, Contemporary, Young Adult, Teen

128 pages, Mass Market Paperback

Published February 21, 2017

Reviews

[Carter · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a good book. I didn't get what the journal entrys were about but, I liked the idea how Frank has some one important that can help him with anger and other issues. (Im mentioning officer Appleby.)

[Tyler Richey · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book first caught my eye when I saw the cover. The cover featured a boy (Frank Torres) in his team gear holding a basketball, which interested me since I personally love all athletics. The story starts off in the narration of Frank, who is a player for his community league. When the story begins, I like how Frank introduces himself, and the way he introduces Officer Appleby, the community officer. Before the main conflict begins, I am aware of all the characters, which helps the reader. Frank's papa, mother, and his younger brother, Tomas, are introduced in the story.
Officer Appleby is in charge of taking care of Frank, and watches Frank's basketball games along with his dad. Coach Wise, who is the basketball coach for Frank's local team, tries to put the players into shape by jogging, but the players do not appreciate his style of coaching, and would rather play basketball. When I first read this part of the book, it showed me that the team is mentally breaking, and to me personally, this indicates that they will not succeed on game day. Towards the end of the book, Frank's mother invites an art student to paint a portrait of Frank. As I first read this part of the story, I was interested on how Frank and the art student were going to interact and get along.
The art student, Toni, was described with her appearance as, "green swoop of hair that covers her eyes, nose ring, studded belt, studded bracelets, black shirt, black jeans, black shoes, and black nail polish." At first, Frank and Toni did not get along very well. Toni would remain quiet, without saying a word, and whenever she did speak, she was correcting Frank for anything she disagreed with. As they began to know each other a lot better, they started communicating more. Towards the end, Frank tried to date Toni, but she has not been interested in relationships. The end really threw a curveball, and caught me off guard.

[Vanessa Garcia · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book I read was called Frank by LJ Alonge. This book’s main characters were Frank and his parents. The setting in this book was mostly in a basketball court or in school. The book Frank was about Frank who would struggled a lot and wouldn’t stay out of trouble. Frank was an interesting character to me because I can relate with him, I like to risk it and just go ahead and do something basically just doing things without thinking about my consequences. His mother is always telling him that he needs to be on top of his grades and stay out of trouble. My mother also tells me and talks to me about me needing to stay out of trouble and start thinking twice about my consequences. But as Frank being one of the most main characters he makes this book more interesting because he leaves you with your mouth open and want you to keep reading and find out what he will do next.
LJ Alonge really took its time pacing this story slow. This book is something believable because this can really happen in real life and get you into consequences. Overall Frank had learned his lesson in not being too wild and just doing things without him thinking. He had enjoyed his time in the basketball team he was in. I believe if you are a trouble kid and like basketball this book could teach you some things and make you think twice about your choices. But other than that this book is an interesting book to read so I challenge you to read Frank.

[Mathias G · Rating 4 out of 5]

Blacktop, written by L.J. Alonge, talks about a young boy named Frank, who is a very talented street basketball player. Although he is famously known for his basketball skills, he is also a trouble maker. He lives in a rougher part of Oakland and does whatever he can do get money. He has to have an officer watching him at games. We come to learn that his officer is named Officer Appleby. During one of Frank's basketball practices, he asks his coach if they could go and try to play indoors, which is a huge change of atmosphere. They get the chance to play indoors but get completely crushed. They get to play again and eventually get better as a team. During one game, Frank twists his ankle real bad and has to sit out a while. During this time out, Frank stays at home with his mom but meets a girl named Toni, who is an apprentice to Frank's mother who is an artist. Officer Appleby was supposed to make sure Frank shaped up, but we come to find out that him meeting Toni was just enough to get Frank out of trouble for good.

[Alicia · Rating 3 out of 5]

The second book of the three that I've read in the series that focus on character-driven stories that are hi/low and usually feature sports. This one is about Frank, with his Catholic Latinx family where he sleeps in the same bed as his younger brother, has gotten into trouble, meets with a police officer for mentorship, and plays basketball. His mother is an artist and his father is always putting the moves on his mother.

It's family-oriented with minimal conflict other when a coming-of-age story where ultimately (only in the last few chapters), Frank most make a decision to stand up against authority and possibly be punished or take the fall.

Luckily, he chooses to not give in to the officer and has to take consequences that would have been easier if he threw the game, but instead he realized that his friendships and relationships were stronger by standing up.

[Timothy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought that this book was a good read. The main character Frankie plays basketball with a group of friends during the summer. I liked this book because Frankie's character and mood change throughout the story. In the beginning of the book he is mad at almost everything and at the end of the story he is forgiving towards his teammates and friends.

[Jennifer]

This is a good hi-lo series for middle school and high school. This book stars a boy who plays basketball, but it is about more than just sports. Purchase for libraries with reluctant readers.