Bank Shot

Volume XXVIII / Issue 17 - January 7 / 2022
Bank Shot
Bank Shot
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Bank Shot

Author: 
Valerie Pankratz Froese
Series: 
Sports Stories
Toronto, ON: James Lorimer, 2021
119 pp., trade pbk. & epub, $12.95 (pbk.)
ISBN: 
9781459416390 (pbk.)
9781459416406 (epub)
Grades: 
Grades 5-8
Ages: 
Ages 10-13
Review by: 
Review by Stephanie Johnson
2
Excerpt: 

“‘C’mon, go hard. You’re almost done!’ Coach A encouraged as we finished the last set of lines.

I reached the end, along with my best friend, Hala. With my hands on my knees, I bent over and breathed hard. It was done. The last tryout for the grade eight girls’ basketball team was finished. I had given my best. Now the wait to see who made the team would feel like forever. …

Hala and I looked at each other and smiled. We were both excited about playing together. Hala had played the year before. She would make the team for sure. I hadn’t tried out the year before and really was not very good at all. When I’d wanted to try out in grade seven, mom had told me that my family duty came first and she needed me to look after my little brother, Rory. When I had tried to ask again, she put her hand up like a stop sign. The discussion was over just like that. Now, in grade eight, I had tried out without telling her. …

Hala had begged me to try out for the team, even when I said I couldn’t. Finally, I had given in. Lunch hours I could do. I thought it would be fun. I didn’t think I would make the team, so then at least I could tell Hala I had tried. I hadn’t counted on the feelings I had, working hard and getting to know the girls. Now, I wanted more than anything to make the team. But I had no idea what I was going to do if I did.

When Jo makes the grade eight girls’ basketball team, she is ecstatic and cannot believe it. Reality quickly sets in as Jo realizes she needs to get permission from her mother who won’t let Jo play. Jo is desperate to be a part of the team, and so she forges her mom’s signature, the beginning of many lies to come. The next obstacle is figuring out how to babysit her brother at the same time that practice takes place. When leaving him home alone ends in tears, Jo recruits her next-door neighbour to babysit while Jo is at practice, all while Jo’s mom is oblivious. As Jo gets deeper into her web of lies, her stress levels keep rising until eventually Jo’s mom gets home early and discovers what has been going on. Luckily for Jo, her mom is understanding when she hears how passionate Jo is about basketball, and everything resolves.

Bank Shot is a hi-lo novel aimed at reluctant readers: the sentences are short, the vocabulary simple and the pace is quick with little added for extra descriptions. Because of these factors, the book may not be a good fit for voracious readers as it is quite different from a regular chapter book due to the focus on the action rather than descriptions. Basketball is the main topic throughout, and there are multiple practice and game time sections that will delight basketball fans, including some basketball specific language. The book does a good job of describing the stress Jo is under and making her a relatable character Readers will really get a feel for her anguish and uncertainty in knowing what she should do and how alone she feels.

Bank Shot is a fast-paced read for reluctant readers or basketball fans.

Recommended
Reviewer: 

Stephanie Johnson, a graduate of the Master of Library and Information Studies Program from the University of Alberta, is the Director of Devon Public Library in Devon, Alberta.