Wrong Side of the Court

Fawad is a 15-year-old male Pakistani immigrant who lives in Regent Park, a lower socioeconomic area of Toronto. Fawad lives and breathes basketball, and his greatest dream is to become an NBA player. Unfortunately, his very traditional mother wants him to go to school to become a lawyer and to submit to an arranged marriage to his first cousin in Pakistan. Fawad must figure out a way to get his mother to allow him to play on the school basketball team and to be able to date Ashley, a rich Caucasian girl who goes to the same school as he. He is also dealing with Omar, a bully and the son of the local imam, who is going out of his way to make Fawad’s life miserable.

Readers of Wrong Side of the Court are taken into the world of South Asian immigrant children who must straddle the traditional world of their parents and modern Canadian society. Readers will want to find out how well Fawad plays on the school basketball team and whether Fawad and Ashley begin to date. The tension between Omar and Fawad builds up throughout the novel, and readers will be curious to learn if the hostile relationship between the two boys results in violence.

I recommend Wrong Side of the Court to fans of realistic fiction as well as basketball fans. Readers of Pakistani origin or other South Asian origins may see reflections of themselves in the characters. The male and female characters are well-developed and accurately reflect the daily life of South Asian immigrant children. Reluctant readers who enjoy basketball will engage with the scenes of basketball games and practices throughout the novel. The romantic subplot between Fawad and Ashley is dealt with in a very sweet way, with Fawad not being afraid of being himself around Ashley.