After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay (Realistic Fiction)

Bunny lives in a poor neighborhood and is an outstanding basketball player. One day Bunny gets a scholarship to go to a private high school, but he must leave all his friends behind at his public school. Bunny’s family was very poor and would take all they could get; it was usually very cold in their house during winter because they couldn’t afford the heat bill. Bunny had a friend named Nasir from his public school. Bunny was a much better basketball player than Nasir, but they always went to the park with each other to play ball. Even though they still live across the street from each other Nasir won’t talk to Bunny because he changed schools. Nasir has a cousin, Wallace, that lives with his grandma and is also very poor. They are going to get evicted because the landlord raised the rent at their apartment. Nasir was doing everything he could to get Wallace a job but, Wallace didn’t feel like getting one. Instead he was making bets to try to win money, but it wasn't really working out for him. Bunny’s basketball team at his private school was good. Even though Bunny was only a sophomore he was still the lead scorer on his team. Wallace thought it was a great idea to bet against Bunny’s team in the playoffs to try to win some money, but he was still losing and didn’t have enough money to pay the people he made bets with. They kept winning until they made it into the championship. Wallace made the biggest bet yet to pay back all the other bets he lost and to make a little money. Since Wallace is in so much trouble Nasir decides to ask Bunny to lose the game, so Wallace doesn't get evicted and people don’t try to hurt him. Will Bunny sell the game, or will Wallace be in huge trouble?

I really liked “After the Shot Drops”; this book made me extremely excited to turn the next page every time. It made me feel a ton of mixed emotions, happy, sad, mad and nervous. It was cool that Nasir and Bunny were friends but had two totally different lifestyles, Bunny was poor and didn’t get a lot, but Nasir had a lot of money. I think it’s good for different kinds of people to experience what it’s like in other people's shoes. I think it was very nice of Bunny to try to lose the game for Wallace, so he doesn't get evicted because Bunny is in the same shoes as him. But if you asked another kid on the team who wasn’t poor, they wouldn’t understand and would probably say no because they have never been in his shoes. I would recommend this book to anyone who likes basketball or just looking for a great book to read. The author created great suspense throughout the story that made it very hard to put the book down. I also really liked the authors descriptive words. Therefore, if you like basketball or just want and amazing book to read I would choose this book.

Reviewed by Jackson W., Grade 7