Book Review: Slam! by Walter Dean Myers

ISBN: 0545055741
Published: May 1st, 2008
Publisher: Scholastic Paperbacks
Read from September 26th to 30th, 2013
Synopsis from Goodreads:

Seventeen-year-old Greg "Slam" Harris can do it all on the basketball court. He's seen ballplayers come and go, and he knows he could be one of the lucky ones. Maybe he'll make it to the top. Or maybe he'll stumble along the way. Slam's grades aren't that hot. And when his teachers jam his troubles in his face, he blows up.
Slam never doubted himself on the court until he found himself going one-on-one with his own future, and he didn't have the ball.

Review:

This was the first book that I read for my adolescent literature class that I didn't really enjoy. I think my biggest problem was that basketball played such a large role in the book. I don't tend to read sports books, and I was a bit wary of this book from the very beginning because of it. Still, I would have looked past it if there had been other interesting parts. Basketball was such a large role in the book though that I found myself skipping large chunks of the book because I was just bored of reading it. I know there are plenty of other people who would love it, but I just don't enjoy reading about basketball practices and games.

The rest of the book wasn't much better for me. I just didn't find the plot that interesting. Honestly, there didn't seem to be that much of a plot. I mean, there was I guess, but I didn't get what the point of the book was really supposed to be. For the most part, it felt just like the million basketball movies I was forced to sit through in high school, especially with the character who wants to show off as opposed to work as a team. It was so repetitive, and I almost think that's my biggest problem with sports book and movies. Every single one is exactly the same.

I don't want this review to come across as too negative. I'm sure this is a great book for people who enjoy books where sports play a large role. I'm just not one of those people, and this book didn't interest me at all.