Slam!

WOW!!!

Slam, by Walter Dean Myers is an amazing book that talks about a kid from the streets who can do it all on the basketball court. He has the talent to rise from his poor neighborhood and onto something great, but he struggles off the court as a result of his short temper and low grades. I think the author was looking to teach the young teens reading this book to make the right decisions and that if you put your heart and soul into anything, you can become successful. People should really read this book because it inspires you to work on what you really love and try to become something above average with it. This book also shows a common teen African American scenario, with one parent, taking care of brothers or sisters and having to look out from getting hooked to drugs everyday. The story just absorbs you and make very real and strong connections with you own life. But what I liked the most about this short novel is that is had a piece of everything a novel has. It has action, as there are several exiting games described in the book as there is romance as our protagonist falls in love bit then is still attracted to other young girls. It has problems a kid from the street usually has, like having a single parent who is never around, needing to take care of your siblings and people constantly trying to drag you into drugs and breaking the law, even your best friends. Finally, it shows social acceptance as Greg Harris is transferred to a new "rich" school so he can play basketball there. In conclusion, this is one of the best basketball books I have every read and I recommended to everybody who loves basketball, a novel with everything a novel wants or just another sports fan. I really look up to Walter Dean Myers and his ability to turn a game and write it in such a way that you will not put the book down until the last page and then wanting to go practice on your game.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Slam

Greg Harris Also known as "Slam" is all about basketball. He is determined to make his school's team but has a problem with his grades. He is forced to get a tutor but decides to get helped by a girl, Mtisha, he has known forever and kind of has a thing for. He makes his team but never starts but gets to play in the second half so he can save the game. Everything is going ok but his real match is against Trinity, a school they have to face in the tournament, when he meets his match in basketball and loses the game by one point. Another problem troubling him is the rumor of his best friend since childhood, Ice, dealing drugs. His turn comes to face his friend in a game of Latimer, Slam's new school, and Carver, Slam's old school. He faces Ice and they are neck to neck. Slam beats Ice in the game but his real challenge is later that night. At the same night, Slam finds out the truth that Ice has been dealing and they get into a fight. Slam doesn't talk to Ice after that but keeps talking to Mtisha. The book ends with Slam at practice in the gym running some plays.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

Slam By: Callie Christopherson

In this story, it is about a teenage boy who African American athlete is named Greg. Greg is a high school student and a star basketball player. The book is called Slam because Greg is so good at basketball. So that is his nickname. He lives in New York with his younger brother and his mother. His two best friends in this story is his girlfriend, Keisha and Charles. Greg is good at basketball but not very good in school. He and his girlfriend have a complicated relationship and it is hard for him to maintain a good relationship. The tone of this book is rough and upbeat. This is another African American book. This is a book for Adults or Young Adults. Greg is the main character in this book, which is very athletic. His grandmother in the story is in her death bed. When Greg plays basketball, there is nothing that bothers him, he forgets about everything and just has the time of his life on the court but when it comes to his outside world, he is a total mess. He wants to play in college and become pro and play in the MBA but his mom tries and tells him that he has to have good grades and focus more on life. Greg has a coach who thinks he is a showboat and does not play him. His coach always gave him tips on basketball and in life. Slam has a friend names Ice and they are on opposite teams and his coach had put him in against Ice and after the game finds him dealing crack. Greg believes his best friend is a drug dealer. And they end up getting into a fight and their friendship was flushed down the drain. This book is a good book for teens to show kids from the streets can rise above and shrug all his struggles off and become a better person in general. If you do the right thing in life, you will be awarded at the end. Just like basketball, you put all the hard work to it and get a big award at the end. That is what Greg¿s life was, he put through all the crap that happened to him and got a big award in the end. This book made me feel that I was playing basketball with Greg and feeling all the pain that goes through him on the court.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

I recommend this to anybody who likes basketball

This book is really good for a sports player who thrives to make their dreams come true.

1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.

what's slam

After I have read the book Slam my overall opinion of the book was that it was really good book from my personal perspective .I personally like the book, because of its comedy at certain points, teen drama, and also Slam is very upfront when it comes to speak up for their selves. I myself would rate this book 4 out of 5 stars, because I can really relate to this book cause I could personally put myself in Greg Harris shoe's. I think this book is really great for the teenage age group because I myself is a teenager and I found this book very fascinating myself. If you're a teenager that's looking for a good read, go out and pick up Slam.

Slam

This book is awesome! It really teaches you that school is a lot more important than any sport!

matt thomas is awesome,

If you like basketball and your bad in school this might just be a novel for you.SLAM is a top rated model that gives examples of alot of the struggles young athletes in this day and age. The main charecter Greg is the center of most of the troubles, like drugs and alcohol and the pressure of sex knocking on the door. He's a star basketball play who tranfered from carver to latimer. The school and student are all ahead of him and hes falling more behind his principals calling him telling him he cant play basketball if his grades dont change. Mitasha is the girl greg is in love with but he keeps pushing her away because of her leaving for college. Greg is a good player who even though he doesnt have the grades he still doesnt do drugs or sell. I like this novel and would recomended it to any one.

Fantastic

This book was a great read, I really enjoyed it. I especially like the ending Its not like every other book that ends with a happily ever after. It was a little confusing at times with the lingo but I eventually began to understand it all. It goes deep into the life of Greg "Slam" Harris. He is a high school student who is very talented at basketball and lives in the ghetto. In the book Slam is trying to balance a lot. He is trying to balance basketball, grades, girls, family, and friends. As you probably know that is not the easiest thing to do, and if it gets to be too much for Slam then he may have to stop playing basketball for a while. Will Slam be able to balance it all and still be able to play basketball? Read the book it was fantastic, and it also teaches life lessons.
BZSH

REALISTIC FICTION

Slam is a very good book for people who like basketball. I liked this book a lot and recommend it to everyone. I also think there should be a sequel to this book because the author could of added on to the end. This book was very suspensful. I couldn't stop reading this book .this book also had a good but sad ending but I wouldn't want to give away the ending. The main character in this book has to keep up his grades in order to contineue palying basketball, his favorite sport so anyone who is looking for a good basketball book you should get started on this bookSlam is a very good book for people who like basketball. I liked this book a lot and recommend it to everyone. I also think there should be a sequel to this book because the author could of added on to the end. This book was very suspensful. I couldn't stop reading this book .this book also had a good but sad ending but I wouldn't want to give away the ending. The main character in this book has to keep up his grades in order to contineue palying basketball, his favorite sport so anyone who is looking for a good basketball book you should get started on this book

A great book for anyone who likes basketball!

17 year old Greg "Slam" Harris is very talented in the game of basketball, but struggles with his life off of the court. Slam attends a new school were he finds it hard to fit in. He struggles keeping up his grades, and the coach resents his flashy playing style. Slam also spends much of his time chasing a girl named Mtisha. The coach along with Mtisha teach Slam that he needs to approach the game of life like he does basketball, with great confidence. As a retired basketball coach tells Slam, "the only difference between on the court and off the court is that everybody is in the game off the court. You're in the game, Slam whether you want to be or not." Later in the book, Slam deals with his bestfriend becoming a crack dealer. The book has plenty of intense basketball action, as well as slang from the "hood" that Slam grew up in.

Good Book. Check it Out

"Slam!" the ball hit's the rim as Greg "Slam" Harris dunks it through the net again. The story Slam by Walter Dean Myers is about a boy named Greg Harris or Slam as everyone calls him. Slam is a bit of a troubled kid who isn't doing so hot in school. He also is struggling with his family and his talent. Slam is a great basketball player and basketball is his number one priority. However he is not good at being a team player. Which is a big problem with his new coach. Slam transferred from Carver, a primarily black school, to Latimer, a white magnet school. And is struggling to hold things together.

As the season approaches he thinks things will get better, but they only get worse. With his failing math grades and his constant fighting with his coach he can't seem to keep it together on or off the court. On the court he's always on his coaches bad side, has to deal with team issues, and much more. Off the court Slam has to deal with relations with his friend, Ice who might be possibly selling drugs, his on again off again girlfriend, Mtisha, and his alcoholic father. He also has to deal with his grades and relations with his teammates.

In the story Slam's life unravels before his very eyes and it doesn't seem there is anything he can do about it. But with the help of his family and his supportive head coach he figures things out.

This story as really good I couldn't put it down. It was a thriller and the book seemed to pop to life. This book was a great read. And very well written by Walter Dean Myers.

Awesome book & addicting

This is such an awesome book Oh My GOD! I just read one page And liked it. I like the fact that it talks about peer pressure and it tells you to try to Improve Your Grades. just to Do something you like. This also happened to Me. Walter Dean Myers is such a slang talker it's just so Awesome.

great read!

The book Slam! by Walter Dean Myers is a very good book to read. It talks about peer pressure, challenges in school and even on the basketball courts. It shows how though you are a star on the court, you still have to learn in school. It also shows to be careful of the friends you make because they might make bad choices in life. In this review I am going to tell you about the book I read.

The book Slam! has many different aspects in the story. It talks about standing up to your friends. It also talks about how school is always more important in life than anything else (besides family). It also shows how you may think you live in a perfect world when you really live in a not so great place. It also shows how you should always give people second chances. This is my opinion about this book and I hoped you liked it.

This book is a great book to read and I certainly enjoyed it. It is a basketball book, which I love to read! I would recommend this book to someone who like to read sport books, as i would think they would enjoy this. I would also recommend this book to someone who likes a little romance as this definitely has some in it. This is what I think of this book and I hope you enjoyed it.

Awesome book!!

Walter Dean Myers is author of the book 'Slam'. This book is written with the way the main character would most likely if this were real life. The main character's name is Greg Harris and he has a brother, and a mom and dad. His nickname Slam is given to him by the way he plays the game of basketball. He loves the game with a fiery passion but doesn't have the grades to keep playing. But when his Mom puts him in a new school, things take a turn for the worse. This book shows great potential in my opinion. Myers shows great skill in have the main character being the narrator because it shows the readers of the book what people from the "hood" might say. I love the Myers adds the little love interest with Mtisha because it keeps the reader not only focusing in on the basketball part of the story. One flaw with this book is during the basketball games Greg plays in. Myers skipped a lot of the game action sometime in the story which took away some of my interest in Greg's game. Overall, this book deserves and 8.5 out of 10 because of the little flaws as I stated in previous paragraphs. One thing Myers could have done is written the ending better. The ending to 'Slam' is not strong what so ever. It ended so plain and boring. If Myers added a twist to the end, this book would have been a great book. Also, by the way the book ended, I believe there should be a sequel to this book. I recommend this book to any teenager that loves sports. Even if you aren't a teenager, you could read this book and still like it a lot. This book is a book every kid should read.

Great sport book

Greg Harris or as he is called,"slam" is a teen struggling in Brooklyn, New York. Slam is a great basketball player and that is his main focus ,but he struggles with family,culture,and friends. He has transferred from Carver a school with mostly black students to Latimer a all white high school. As the basketball season comes slam thinks his life will improve but between failing classes and fighting with the coaches he cannot get his life together playing basketball or not. Slam struggles with his dying grandmother, a friend that is possibly dealing drugs, a girl that he loves and a alcoholic father. With the help of his coach, friends and family he starts to realize whats happening and realizes he has to change. This is a great book and i would reccomend this book to anyone. Out of 5 stars i give this book a 4 star rating.

Good Read.

The novel "Slam" by Walter Dean Myers is a story about Greg "Slam" Harris is a seventeen-year-old who thinks he is all that on the court and he's not that far off. He can play point guard and slam dunk the ball, making him a tough combination for a defender to handle. The problem is that this year Slam is at a new school, and here his new coach and teammates don't give him the respect he thinks he deserves, and his teachers just won't get off his back about his grades.


Not only is his new school becoming a problem, but so much of his support system is falling apart as well. His mom, though trying to help Slam the best that she can, is dragging him down with all her talk about raising his grades. His younger brother Derek is as meddling as ever. Even his best friend, Ice, seems to be drifting further and further away, and Slam fears that drugs are the cause. Review by Joey Nuzzi

Great Sports book

Joe Tashjy Wall Sumer Reading 8/17/10 "Slam!" Book Review The book "Slam!" by Walter Dean Myers staring Greg Harris or known as Slam is about a great, African American, high school basketball player trying to learn how to live on and off the court. Slam lives in the New York ghettos with his dad, mom and brother. Slam has transferred from Carver, a primarily all black school, to Latimer, a primarily all white school. Throughout the book Slam gets life tips form his assistant basketball coach, Goldy. Slam faces many problems throughout the book. These problems consist of his best friend Ice possibly dealing crack, his hot temper, his bad grades, his grandma dying, and keeping a good relationship with his girlfriend Mtisha. Slam has to battle his future and this one thing he can't afford to loose. All in all, I would give Slam four stars out of five. The author did a great job drawing you into the book with his writing and storyline. I liked that this sports story was about more than just sports. If someone asked me if they should read this book I would definitely recommended it.

This is the type of book that after you start reading you don't want to put it down.

In this book you go on an adventure with Greg Harris but he prefers Slam. This book takes place in Brooklyn New York. He lives with his mom, dad and younger brother. He used to go to school at Carver but now he goes to Latimer. At his old school he had a friend named Ice. He can only do one extra thing he has to decide between basketball and an art class because his mom told him to choice one because of his grades. He tries out for basketball and makes the team.

He makes the basketball team. They have two practices in the first week. slam thoughht it went okay. He has so many problems he does bad in school,his grandmother is in the hospital and his dad is drunk a lot. another bad thing is that Mtisha heard that Slam's friend Ice had money. Slam thought that college scouts were paying him.

His mom wants him to get a tutor. Yet him and his dad don't want the person to tutor Slam. Mtisha helped him study. In basketball his coach was getting mad at him for not playing team ball. All he did was slam the ball into the basket and the coach gets mad. Must coaches would envy someone who could dunk the ball. The coach then only played him when needed. so must times he sit on the bench the first half and play the second half because they were losing.

His grandmother was recovering and Slam was winning basketball games. In school for language atrs they had a partner project. They decided that Slam would video tape the things that were important to him and then she would edit it. He had to go this long process to get a video camera. Once he got it the first day he started recording. Towards the end of video taping he faced a problem because his little brother told him he had lost the video camera. Luckily Mtisha went to the store that his little brother lost it in front of and it was there. The owner of the store bought it for around $5 and sold it to slam for arouund $20. So he finished taping and handed it in and teacher said he loved it.

Latimer versus Carver in the last regular season game Latimer wins. They will be playing each other again in the finals. Ice throws a party because they won.The party ws going great until Ice went to the top of the building. Slam went up there to see what was wrong. He found out that Ice was a drug dealer. A fight broke out between the two of them. After that the life long friends were probably not friends after that.

Book Review for Slam!

Slam! is an action and basketball filled story. It has an action side filled with a lot of basketball and also has real life issues in it. Once I started reading I wanted to keep reading more. Slam! is about a boy named Greg Harris. His nickname is Slam because he is great at basketball and loves to dunk. He has serious real life issues which include struggling in school, a sick grandmother, and an alcoholic father. His girlfriend Mtisha tries to help him with math but it doesn't go so well because they end up fighting. He has a best friend named Ice who also plays basketball but for another school. He eventually finds out at a party that Ice is a drug dealer and they get into a fight. The story tells about a lot of basketball games Slam played in while he was struggling with his issues. The assistant coach Goldy would give him lectures and try and help him out when he could, he wasn't always around. I liked this book because it had a good plot about a basketball player and his problems. One thing I think the author should have done is talk about Latimer's second game against Carver, because that would have finished the story. I would recommend this book to teenagers who like basketball.

Great book!

If your a sports fan this is a great book for you. Greg Harris or Slam is in high school. he is growing up in Harlem and he recently left Carver high school and has transfered to Latimer Academy. He doesnt really fit in at the school, he has poor grades and a bad attitude but loves basketball. Slam trys out for the basletball team. he's one of the best players their but the coach doesn't like his attitude so he sits on the bench. At home Greg has challenges as well, His grandmother is very sick which he has to deal with. Also his best friend Ice is selling drugs. Greg (Slam) has to decide if he is going to dedicate his time to his grades or leave the streets of Harlem behind him. This book was really good and i definatly recomend it to everyone especially sports fans.