Review “Lessons on small-town politics and what it means to be a good friend abound in this well-plotted work.” (Booklist)“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.” (Kirkus Reviews)“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.” (School Library Journal)“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)“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, Michael L. Printz Honor and New York Times Bestselling author of Winger and Grasshopper Jungle)“Fresh, funny, thoughtful, subversive, and totally absorbing. Book of the year!” (Robert Lipsyte, Margaret A. Edwards award-winning author of The Contender)“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, Award-Winning Author of Honestly Ben)“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 of In Sight of Stars and The Memory of Things)“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, author of Gap Life )“Geoff Herbach captures rural-urban rivalries and the challenges of finding a home.” (Minneapolis Star Tribune) Read more 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. Read more
K**R
Great Book for HS Book Club
My HS students LOVED this book. They connected with the characters and engaged in rich conversations around the issues presented. (It's rare to find a book where every character learns and grows.) Looking forward to the AUDIBLE version and the MOTION PICTURE. (Amazon are you listening?) It's just that good! Thanks, Geoff Herbach!
A**R
👍
😊
K**S
Five Stars
My 14-year-old son really enjoyed this book.
T**A
Not your typical sports book
*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion. All the thoughts below are my own*When Adam’s basketball skills take him from a Polish orphanage to a loving adoptive mother in Minnesota, he believes basketball is his ticket to greatness. Being recruited to play on a select AAU team with some of the best players in the state, only confirms it. But when an incident with the police threatens to break apart the relationships Adam’s finally formed, he must choose between his new family and the sport that’s given him everything.There were so many aspects of this book that were really amazing, the first of which being the plot. When I first started reading this book, I thought that it would be pretty straight forward and simple, but boy was I wrong. Throughout the book, the author continued to bring up themes of family and racial injustice in ways that typical sports books aren’t always able to do. I thought this was very interesting that the author brought up these important issues without making it seem forced. An example of this is how Adam’s friend in getting in trouble for doing something that wasn’t his fault and how his other teammate is getting in trouble because of racism from others. Through plot points like this, the author was able to seamlessly weave in bits of important topics into his story.Another part of this book that I really enjoyed were the characters. Adam, for example, was amazingly written. For one, he had such a unique voice that is rare in YA. After all, it isn’t everyday that you read about a teenage Polish basketball star. Along with that, I loved how we were able to watch his growth throughout the book. He started out with a very clear goal and idea and his head, and he also was very new to America and the English language in general. I enjoyed how throughout this book, we were able to see him grow his relationships with his new family and with the people in his school. I also enjoyed seeing him speak better English. I actually have Chinese exchange students in my school, my friend being one of them, and I feel so proud of her whenever she starts to speak better and better English and integrate more with English-speaking students. I felt this way throughout this book too as Adam grew. I also enjoyed how the author did not leave out any side characters. He continue to integrate them into the plot and build their characters which each chapter, something which many authors forget to do.Finally, I really enjoyed the writing style in this book. The author wrote in the perfect way for themes in this book, perfectly combining sports and YA contemporary themes. I for one am not a fan of sports yet I found myself interested in every word written. I also really enjoyed how the author wrote in short chapters because it kept on making me want to read just one more chapter.I would recommend this book for fans of sports who might not be a frequent reader because of it’s fast-paced story line. Fans of regular contemporary books will also enjoy this book as well because it is far from your typical sports book.
C**T
This book is a wonderful shout out to Minnesota basketball fans just like the movie HOOSIERS is for Indiana...
Adam (Sobieski) Reed was in a Polish orphanage, abandoned there by his alcoholic father after Adam's mother dies of ovarian cancer.He is found there and adopted by Renata, a scholar of Slavic literature and history, and brought back to Minnesota, USA to live.He's 16 years old, isn't totally fluent in English, has anger and abandonment issues but...he loves basketball and is good at it.This was a great book that addressed a lot of difficult issues - racial profiling, bullying, immigration, the value of friendship. And it teaches many valuable lessons tied up in an awesome sports tale.I loved the book and highly recommend it - to readers of all ages.I received this book from Katherine Tegen Books through Edelweiss in the hopes that I would read it and leave an unbiased review.
J**V
Plenty of heart in this story.
Who says White men can't jump? If you've met Adam Sobieski Reed, you know that's not true. What is true about Adam is that he grew up in Poland. After his mom died, his father, overwhelmed with grief and the responsibility of taking care of his son, crawled into the bottle. Not long after, Adam was dumped at a Catholic orphanage. He was rescued by Renata, an American who was doing research on her Ph.D. She adopted him and after living in Philadelphia for a while, moved them to Minnesota where she got a new job. Insecure, shy and unable to feel comfortable enough to converse with other kids. What he CAN do, and sees as his lifesaver, is play basketball, so well, in fact, that he's noticed by Carli, an equally skilled basketball player who is recovering from a knee injury. She convinces him to talk with a friend of her dad who coaches an AAU team. It's there that Adam meets Devin and Khalil, both black and incredibly good players. It takes a while for Adam to adjust and let them get to know him, but since basketball is his lifeline and his true language, they 'get' him pretty quickly. Meanwhile, Kase, a football player is making his life miserable at school, he's unable to decipher what is going on with Carli, his mom is developing a romantic relationship with a fellow professor who has two young daughters and he's worried about his best friend Barry. Barry's picked on at school, is working on his black belt in Tae Kwon Do and lives in a trailer with his alcoholic mom and her current boyfriend. All in all, a lot of stuff for a teen who is fluent in English and has a healthy childhood with both parents to have to deal with. Lacking all three, sometimes has him walking the edge. Several events happen very close together, threatening Barry, a couple of Adam's teammates and Adam himself that force him out of his shaky comfort zone and make this an amazing book. Great for sports fans, those who like tension, friendship and courage.
G**R
Like all of Herbach's books
Like all of Herbach's books, HOOPER is raw, funny, and deeply honest. It's a story about the messiness of life and the importance of talking about it.Herbach has one of the strongest, funniest, truest voices writing in YA today, and I adored this book. Covers some important themes, too.
T**A
Five Stars
Great book!
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