Blue Star rapture

Children's Literature - Bruce Adelson

Everyone covets the star athlete: coaches, schools and peers. Sometimes, the allure of stardom can ensnare even the most unsuspecting. T. J. Nucci is a solid high school basketball player in his own right, good but not a star. But his friend, Tyron, is just the opposite. College coaches are enthralled by his strength and jumping ability. Tyron seems destined for a big time college scholarship. There is just one problem. He is academically disinclined, perhaps learning disabled. T. J. assumes the responsibility of guiding Tyron through the murky shoals of college recruitment, where hucksters abound and the best interests of the student are often secondary. But T. J. soon discovers that his instincts are not born of altruism. T. J.'s experience at Full Court, a basketball camp where coaches, agents and assorted hangers-on evaluate high school athletes and their potential for stardom, is transforming. Like the hangers-on he disdains, he too has been seduced by the power of stardom. The author is adept at describing the pressures of big time college sports while also skillfully sketching his characters. He clearly has a feel for the lingo of the basketball court and the young athlete. This is a well-paced book that should attract much attention.

VOYA - Mary Ann Capan

T. J. Nucci attends an exclusive, high-profile summer basketball camp. An average athlete, T. J. was invited to the camp because of his close friendship with Tyron, a talented player being courted by several Division One colleges. Tyron is a slacker in academic trouble, and T. J.'s task is to "ride herd" on him. College coaches and scouts are present in full force at the camp and, although NCAA policy prohibits coaches from approaching prospective players directly, violations persist. "Street agents" who secure loyalty through gifts are also there. When the atmosphere becomes too much for T. J., he takes a walk and comes upon a footbridge separating his camp from a religious camp. Here he meets LuAnn, who has recently "found God." Upon his return home, T. J. learns that LuAnn committed suicide shortly after their last talk. As the school year begins, T. J. struggles with the realization that he must think for himself and that his self-preservation comes before Tyron's. This issue-laden novel honestly explores the politics of college sports recruitment. However, the author fails to address any single issue with sufficient depth to elicit empathy in the reader. LuAnn's psychological condition, her out-of-wedlock pregnancy, and ultimate suicide exert some influence on T. J.'s awakening, but they seem contrived. The effect is too much, too soon. The plausible ending is somewhat weakened by the book's brevity, the lack of plot depth, and T. J.'s shallow character. This novel is peppered with basketball jargon and occasional language that may be offensive to some, but both are handled in an appropriate manner. VOYA Codes: 3Q 2P J S (Readable without serious defects, For the YA with a special interest in the subject, Junior High-defined as grades 7 to 9 and Senior High-defined as grades 10 to 12).

School Library Journal

Gr 9 UpBennett hits again from beyond the arc in this introspective tale about the recruitment of high school players at Full Court, an elite downstate Illinois summer basketball camp. T.J. Nucci, a Marlboro-smoking junior, loafs until the night he uses his brains to play the best game of his life, helping his team win the championship. Meanwhile, on a footbridge that crosses a gorge to a fundamentalist Christian church camp on the other side, T.J. meets a pregnant teenager and disses her belief in the biblical rapture. After her suicide, he reexamines his life, goals, and ambitions. This is a sophisticated book for mature readers. Expletives are integrated realistically and are not excessive. The depth of the moral quagmire that surrounds college recruiting is suggested by T.J.'s complex friendship with Tyron, a huge basketball talent whose low IQ impedes his dreams of a big-time college career. T.J. rides on his bud's coattails to a point, but it is his desire to control things, especially his own destiny, that drives the plot. In the process, T.J. interacts with a well-rounded cast of adults including his mother, an inquisitive local newspaper reporter, his high school counselor, as well as the "street agents" and coaches at the camp who bend and break the rules intended to keep the playing field level. A final confrontation with Sister Simone, the church camp counselor whom T.J. believes could have prevented LuAnn's suicide, is particularly revelatory. A slim, challenging, disquieting, and finally hopeful read.Joel Shoemaker, Southeast Jr. High School, Iowa City, IA

Kirkus Reviews

A week of basketball camp sparks deep changes in a high-school junior's outlook, but readers may wonder why, so sparely written and roughly constructed is this story from Bennett (The Squared Circle, 1995, etc.). T.J. isn't looking too hard at just who's paying for him and his 6' 9" friend, Tyron, to attend camp; after all, a coach from North State has already made overtures, in direct violation of NCAA rules. Believing that Tyron is a hot enough prospect that colleges might overlook his severe learning disability, T.J. devotes himself to keeping his friend away from the "street agents" and their freebies. Then, sneaking out for a smoke, T.J. meets LuAnn, a pregnant young woman from the Christian camp nearby; something in her talk of blindly trusting God's will draws him to a sermon by her preacher, Sister Simone. Tragedy follows hard on triumph; during a camp championship game, T.J. finds the inner fire he had lacked, then learns that LuAnn is dead, a suicide who had been suffering from depression, encouraged to substitute faith for medication. Bennett awkwardly tucks a few expletives into the dialogue, patly introduces a character to fill T.J. in on clinical depression, finally drops Tyron (who, from an author known for his sensitive portrayals of mentally and emotionally disturbed characters, comes off as a buffoon) completely, and draws only a tenuous connection between LuAnn's story and T.J.'s. He also leaves plotlines unresolved, neglects to develop a clear climax, and is skimpy with sports action. (Fiction. 12-15)