Hooper

by Geoff Herbach

Overview

From Geoff Herbach, the critically acclaimed author of the Stupid Fast series, comes a compelling new YA novel about basketball, prejudice, privilege, and family, perfect for fans of Jordan Sonnenblick, Andrew Smith, and Matt de la Peña.

For Adam Reed, basketball is a passport. Adam’s basketball skills have taken him from an orphanage in Poland to a loving adoptive mother in Minnesota. When he’s tapped to play on a select AAU team along with some of the best players in the state, it just confirms that basketball is his ticket to the good life: to new friendships, to the girl of his dreams, to a better future.

But life is more complicated off the court. When an incident with the police threatens to break apart the bonds Adam’s finally formed after a lifetime of struggle, he must make an impossible choice between his new family and the sport that’s given him everything.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780062453112
Publisher:	HarperCollins Publishers
Publication date:	02/20/2018
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	162,176
Product dimensions:	5.70(w) x 7.70(h) x 1.30(d)
Age Range:	13 - 17 Years

About the Author

Geoff Herbach is the author of Hooper and the award-winning Stupid Fast series, as well as Fat Boy vs. the Cheerleaders. His books have been given the Cybils Award for Best Young Adult Fiction and the Minnesota Book Award, selected for the Junior Library Guild, and listed among the year’s best by the American Library Association, the American Booksellers Association, and many state library associations. In the past, he produced radio comedy shows and toured rock clubs telling weird stories. Geoff teaches creative writing at Minnesota State University, Mankato. He lives in a log cabin with a tall wife. You can find him online at www.geoffherbach.com.

Editorial Reviews

12/01/2017
Gr 8 Up—Abandoned by his father at a Polish orphanage, Adam had no one until fate brought him to Renata, an American studying abroad whose heart was so moved by the lonely little boy that she adopted him. Now living in the Minnesota, Adam Reed has grown tall and strong enough to be a beast on the hardwood. On the basketball court, chants of "MVP" follow his colossal dunks. His raw talent gains him not only the attention of beautiful fellow baller Carli Anderson, but also of an elite AAU (amateur athletic union) team. With "Basketball is my passport" as his mantra, Adam throws his heart into trying out for this team. But focusing isn't easy. The class bully takes particular joy in mistreating Adam, regularly calling him "Duh" and "the Refugee." That same bully spends time picking on Adam's best friend, Barry, a kind kid with a deeply troubled home life. Juggling his AAU team responsibilities, his friendship with Barry, his relationship with Renata, and a blossoming romance with Carli, Adam finds the balance he's struck tenuous at best. There's much to love in this sports tale. Fast-paced play-by-plays vividly depict the speed and beauty of the game. Adam's backstory is heartrending and with immigrant mistrust and nonviolent protests in the national spotlight, this is a timely and realistic teen drama and swish—nothin' but net. VERDICT Highly recommended for first purchase.—Abby Bussen, Muskego Public Library, WI

School Library Journal

2017-10-28
Adopted from Poland three and a half years ago, Adam decides that basketball may be his "passport to a good life." Originally Adam Sobieski, the white teen is now Adam Reed, his adoptive single mother's name, and life has gotten more complicated. The two of them have moved to a small Minnesota college town from Philadelphia, where Adam first began to learn basketball. With his increased height—he's now 6 feet 6 inches—he is gaining attention and is invited to play with an elite team in the Twin Cities. Teased for his poor English and social awkwardness, Adam has only one friend until Carli Anderson, also a basketball star, enters his life. The green-eyed white girl pushes him in multiple ways, and gradually Adam begins to understand more than just the game. When Adam plays with an all-black team of excellent players, he learns some uncomfortable truths. Class and money, racial injustice, and loyalty to true friends come into focus. The book is written as though Adam is speaking to readers in broken English that is both unconvincing and unfortunately played for laughs. Nonetheless, Adam is appealing, and Herbach's ability to expand the narrative from solid game play to confronting racial injustice is remarkable. No one here is perfect, and their failures make readers cringe yet root for success. Hoops and so much more. (Fiction. 14-18)

Kirkus Reviews

This sports/school/domestic drama checks all the boxes. What could be another boilerplate basketball novel benefits from a tight cast of well developed secondary characters who surpass their expected stereotypes.

Bulletin of the Center for Children’s Books

Geoff Herbach captures rural-urban rivalries and the challenges of finding a home.

Minneapolis Star Tribune

Funny, gut-wrenching, and spilling over with heart, Hooper is an uplifting breath of joy, and gives us all cause to be hopeful. I loved it!

Andrew Smith

Hooper is a slam dunk! A sports novel with incredible action and tons of heart. I challenge you not to fall in love with these terrific, flawed characters, and just try to put this one down once you start. Impossible.

Bill Konigsberg

Fresh, funny, thoughtful, subversive, and totally absorbing. Book of the year!

Robert Lipsyte

Raw, funny, and deeply honest, Geoff Herbach gifts us a story about the messiness of life and the importance of talking about it—ultimately showing us how to not only trudge through it, but to soar.

Gae Polisner

Author Geoff Herbach has a remarkable ability to create characters who make us laugh and think, sometimes within the same sentence. Read Hooper and let your self be changed.

John Coy

Lessons on small-town politics and what it means to be a good friend abound in this well-plotted work.

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