Hoop Genius: How a Desperate Teacher and a Rowdy Gym Class Invented Basketball

by John Coy, Joe Morse (Illustrator)

Overview

Taking over a rowdy gym class right before winter vacation is not something James Naismith wants to do at all. The last two teachers of this class quit in frustration. The students—a bunch of energetic young men—are bored with all the regular games and activities. Naismith needs something new, exciting, and fast to keep the class happy—or someone's going to get hurt. Saving this class is going to take a genius. Discover the true story of how Naismith invented basketball in 1891 at a school in Springfield, Massachusetts.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780761366171
Publisher:	Lerner Publishing Group
Publication date:	01/01/2013
Edition description:	Library Edition
Pages:	32
Product dimensions:	11.00(w) x 9.40(h) x 0.50(d)
Lexile:	880L (what's this?)
Age Range:	8 - 9 Years

About the Author

John Coy is the author of young adult novels, the 4 for 4 middle-grade series, and nonfiction and fiction picture books including Hoop Genius, Game Changer, Their Great Gift, Dads, If We Were Gone, and Where We Come From. He has received numerous awards for his work including a Marion Vannett Ridgway Award, a Charlotte Zolotow Honor, a Bank Street College Best Book of the Year, and the Burr/Warzalla Award for Distinguished Achievement in Children's Literature. John lives by the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

Joe Morse is an award-winning illustrator and artist. His work has graced everything from billboards in England to coins in Canada. He directs the Illustration Degree program at Sheridan Institute outside of Toronto. Joe lives in Toronto with his wife, the illustrator/designer Lorraine Tuson, and their 2 children.

Editorial Reviews

Coy's story about the dawn of basketball in 1891…offers an interesting account of the factors that went into devising the game.

The New York Times Book Review - Pamela Paul

"Coy understands the power of detail . . . and his tight focus on the game's initial season is immediately engrossing. Spare, precise language reflects the game's welcome sense of order as well as its athletic appeal. Morse's kinetic paintings, at once dynamic and controlled, fill the spreads, capturing the game's combination of power and finesse."—starred, The Horn Book Magazine

From the Publisher

This picture-book basketball history spotlights how James Naismith came to invent the game now played around the world. Stylized illustrations in tones resembling tinted sepia prints depict riotous students playing indoor sports, accumulating more injuries with each page turn. The text asserts that they "had already forced two teachers to quit. / [Naismith] didn't want to, but nobody else would teach that class," setting the scene for Naismith's realization, seemingly self-prompted, that a new game with less physical contact was needed. Memories of childhood games lead to his eureka moment. However, with so little context provided, readers may question where this class was being held, why the "boys" look like men the same age as Naismith and how Naismith came to work with them. The original rules of "Basket Ball" are printed on the end pages, and the players' enthusiasm for the game is evident, but details such as court dimensions and where baskets were hung are not included. Perhaps in a nod to Title IX, youngsters learn that Naismith taught the game to a group of women, and the book ends with a note about the game's inclusion in the 1936 Olympics. Given its limited scope, both hoops fans--who will be familiar with this story from rule and sports-history books--and newbies may feel this book has left them circling the rim. (author's note; selected bibliography) (Informational picture book. 5-10)

Kirkus Reviews