Michael Jordan: A Life Above the Rim

by Robert Lipsyte

Michael Jordan was a late bloomer. Cut from the Varsity basketball team in high school when he first tried out, Michael nonetheless became the best basketball player that ever lived—Rare Air Jordan. The true story of how Michael Jordan achieved this amazing level of success as a basketball player—and as the high king of commercial endorsements—underscores one of the new roles of athletes in our society today. Here's a fascinating look at both the evolution of basketball and Michael Jordan's stunning climb to the peak of his sport, and his season in minor league baseball. Young Adult Choices for 1996 (IRA)

112 pages, Library Binding

First published January 1, 1994

Reviews

[Zoey Buchan · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read the book Michael Jordan by Robert Lipsyte. It was basically just all about Michael Jordan’s life. In the beginning it talks about Michael Jordans life in high school. He was picked on and didn’t even make his high school freshman team but was determined to make the team his Sophomore year and trained for the next year. His last few years in high school he was very successful, he was recruited by many colleges but ended up going to North Carolina. Michael Jordan was not all that well known throughout college until his last year where hit the game winner against Georgetown to win the National Championship. This is where everyone started calling him by his full name Michael Jordan. Before that he was just Mike. After college he was drafted by the Chicago Bulls, he played with them from 1984-1993 and then took a short break and then came back and played with the bulls again from 1995-1998. Michael Jordan then declared his retirement, he came out of retirement in 2001 to play with the Wizards for 2 years. Throughout his NBA career Michael Jordan won 6 NBA Championships, 6 NBA Finals MVP, and 5 Overall MVP. These are just a few of Michael Jordan’s Achievements that make him arguably the greatest basketball player of all time. Since this was a biography there were not many characters besides Michael Jordan. Some of his characteristics were perseverance and determination since he didn’t even make the Freshman basketball team but still persevered to become one of the all time greats. This book was a great book if you’re wanting to learn more about Michael Jordan.

[Ethan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal response:
I really enjoyed this book. It talked not just about when he was in the NBA but his whole childhood. I now know so much more about Michael Jordan than I did before. This book told so much more of the backstory than some of the other books I read.
Plot:
It started when he was born in 1963. When he was in school he was the one always getting picked on and getting made fun of because of how serious he was about basketball. He didn't make the Freshman team in his high school so he kept on training till he got on the team in Sophomore year. Him and his friend were almost unstoppable in high school. Michael Jordan got recruited by a ton of colleges. Michael Jordan was going to go South Carolina but his friend got him to go to North Carolina with him. In college he was not very noticeable the first year.At that time North Carolina got a new coach. Michael Jordan only went to college 3 years because he was that good at basketball. The last year he was there was when Michael jordan made the game winning jump shot against Georgetown to win the National Championship. He then got drafted by the Chicago Bulls. He won 6 NBA Championships in a row and after his 6th championship he said he was done because he didn't want to hurt himself later on in life. Now he is in the Hall of Fame.
Recommendations:
I would recommend this book from teenagers to adults. There are some spots where he says some swear words. This is a good small book for people that just want to read about Michael Jordan's journey.

[Santiago Guevara · Rating 5 out of 5]

IRP
Santiago Guevara
Block 8
01/17/18
For my IRP i read “Super Star Lineup, Michael Jordan, a life above the rim” by Robert Lipsyte. This book is a Bibliography about the famous Michael Jordan, Also known as the best basketball player ever. The setting takes place throughout his whole life and where his has been. The theme in this book is not very noticeable, but there is a sort of message in the book to remind people that read it, that there is no limit to what you can do and that everything is possible if you truly believe you can do it. I think that it portrays this message by telling us Jordan's life and all the ups and downs he experienced since he was a baby.
The story is told by a narrator (the Writer) who does a great job at detailing every section of the book and making sure that the reader stays addicted to the book. Every chapter is about someone different that Jordan had an encounter with in his life. And the Writer wrote the chapters through the eyes of the people, Such as Kareem Abdul Jabbar, Coach Dean Smith, Pete Axthelm, ETC.
I recommend this book to two different people, one of the type of people i recommend this to are the Michael Jordan enthusiasts who are die hard for him and want to know everything about him, from start to finish. The other type of person i recommend this to, are people who love inspirational books and enjoy reading about someone who struggled through life and finished with a legendary story.
Literary device #1- Imagery - Not just one example of this many, the Writer uses imagery to depict all the crazy things Michael Jordan did in his life and how many people he stunned. In Chapter one, Pg 16, The author uses imagery for readers to live the event that changed Michael Jordan’s life (game winner in college championship).
Literary device #2- Metaphor - Pg 95 chapter 6, Kareem Abdul J. said “ Because a guy can bury a twenty foot jumper or glide to the rim like an angel” In this quote he is stating that Jordan can glide like and angel, which portrays a metaphor being used for how people think of him when he plays. Again, in this book there are a ton of metaphors to describe the magical things he could do on the court.


Literary device #3- Irony - In the first chapter on page 20, the author uses irony to explain how Michael Jordan was a freshmen in college and that he wasn't supposed to make a winning shot for the championship, in basketball the person who is least athletic would never go in at crunch time ( Really close game coming to an end). Jordan went in at the last minute to take the shot, because no one would think that they would pass it to him.

[LoganNeary · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read, stories from NBA Players and Coaches about the GOAT

[Collin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Book Review
Robert Lipsyte: Michael Jordan a Life Above the Rim, HarperCollins e-books, Copyright 1994 , 112 pages, autobiography.

Robert Lipsyte delves deep into the life of the famous basketball player Michael Jordan to show his amazing work ethic. Lipsyte uses his vast knowledge of basketball to bring out the struggles faced by not only Michael, but may other people in the world today. The book is written for the common man to read and understand. Lipsyte uses the events in Michael’s life to show the effort it takes to become great and how it isn’t always going to be easy. This is a great book to show how everyone has struggles and that even the most successful of people do not live a perfect life.
Michael Jordan a Life Above the Rim, depicts the long struggle of Michael Jordan’s life that eventually led to the creation of a basketball star. Robert Lipsyte starts off the story of Michael’s life by showing how he was not always the best basketball player and how he got cut from his high school basketball team. This sets the tone for the rest of the story of how he had to work his way from the bottom in order to get to the top. Eventually Michael gets into North Carolina University to play on the basketball team. The players on his team do not respect him but it all changes with one play in one game. Michael’s team is down in the final game of the championship and he has to take the last shot. Michael makes the shot and earns the respect of not only his team, but from people and fans around the world. Michael moves on from this famous play to become a starter on the Chicago Bulls NBA basketball team. He leads this team to win six championships and to tie the record of three championship wins in a row.
Michael Jordan a Life Above the Rim, is a great autobiography of the life story of Michael Jordan’s struggle as a basketball player. The book does a great job on touching on all aspects of Michael’s basketball career and his family. The book is an easy read due to the fact that Lipsyte does a great job explaining the details of Michael’s life in a way anyone can comprehend. This book does a great job of tying the reader in by throwing in fascinating facts and stories that happened in Michael’s life. Lipsyte does a great job of showing Michael’s life story along with showing how even for the most famous of people, life is never easy. The book has strengths and weaknesses. The only down side to this book is that some parts of Michael’s life are not delved into. Lipsyte sometimes glides over information. Besides the one weakness, the book is an amazing book to read. I would personally recommend this book to people that love basketball or are fascinated in the life of Michael Jordan.

[Noah Dutcher]

I just read Michael Jordan: Life Above the Rim by Robert Lipsyte. Basically the entire book went through and explained Michaels entire sports career all the way from when he was a kid to become world famous in the national basketball association. It also showed the perspective other extremely famous basketball players that grew up with Michael and what the wanted or had to say about his entire basketball career.

I personally loved this book. As basketball being my passion for the past 5 years in my life hearing the life story and career of one of my favorite all time basketball players was awesome. I really liked how the author included what the other people and basketball players thought about him as he rose to stardom and eventually the national basketball association.

I would reccomend this to people who know the history of basketball and Michael Jordan because you need to understand a lot about basketball in order for you to understand this book.

[Nathan Willams · Rating 5 out of 5]

My non-fictional book for this semester was "Michael Jordan: A Life Above the Rim," and it is by Robert Lipstye. This book explained the life and career of Michael Jordan, the famous and better believed as the greatest player of all time. This book explains the ups and the downs that Michael Jordan had.
This book was one of the best books I have read so far this year. Even though it was non-fiction it kept me interested and on the edge of my seat. I rated this book a 5 out of 5 stars based on that. In this book I don't think I would change anything.
I recommend this book to anyone who who knows Michael Jordan, and would like to know more about him. This book gives you all the correct statistics and even explains some of the players that Michael played with. This book was great and I hope you enjoy it too.

[Christian Jacob · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great book about the best basketball player that ever stepped out on the court. Michael Jordan was legendary. I knew he was good. But this book taught me about how he prepared he is when it comes to taking the court. And he gives it his all until the clock hits zero. Jordan was the best, he made the all star team as a rookie and all the stars wouldn't pass to him because everyone thought that he was a ball hog. But all Michael was trying to do was strive to be the best. Michael would play hurt he would play if his life depended on it. Overall this book was a great book about a true legend, who never gave up.

[FinlayDC2000 · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was a great way of learning about the best the game has ever seen. The only problem is it doesn't feature MJ enough. But to make up it has Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, James Nasmith ect. The only reason it got 4 out of 5 was the length of the book VS. the length of the index. As there aw about 50 pages of index. But overall a good book.

[Omar Ali · Rating 5 out of 5]

i want to read it

[Karla Black · Rating 2 out of 5]

boring