After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

With March Madness in full effect, it's pretty appropriate that my latest read was After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay.  But while basketball plays a role in this novel, it takes more of a back seat to the real issues.  More than basketball, this is a novel about friendship, family, and compassion.  More than once I found myself talking to or yelling at characters in the book, and by my standards, that makes for an excellent read.  To me, that means that I am invested in the characters and story and I care about what is happening.  All very good signs.

After the Shot Drops is a story about Bunny, one of the best high school basketball players in the country.  It is also a story about Nasir, Bunny's best friend.  Told in alternating perspectives, this is a story about Bunny's decision to leave the high school in his home neighborhood and instead accept a scholarship to St. Sebastian's, an expensive private school with a rich basketball history.  Bunny believes that this is what is best to eventually help provide for his family, both through basketball and the better education he will get.  But he made this decision and subsequent announcement without ever talking to Nasir about it.  Nasir feels like he never really mattered to Bunny, that Bunny cares about basketball over everything else. 

While Bunny is trying to lead his new team to a state title, and fit in along the way, Nasir is starting to spend a lot of his time with his cousin Wallace.  But Wallace and his grandma are about to be evicted from their apartment and nobody by Nasir seems willing to help.  When Wallace makes a series of bets against Bunny, with money he doesn't have, he starts to put himself in an every more dangerous situation.  Nasir and Wallace may have a solution, but it may come at the cost of Nasir's rekindled relationship with Bunny.  And maybe even more than that. 

From Amazon:

A powerful novel about friendship, basketball, and one teen's mission to create a better life for his family. Written in the tradition of Jason Reynolds, Matt de la Peña, and Walter Dean Myers, After the Shot Drops now has 3 starred reviews!

* “Belongs on the shelf alongside contemporary heavy-hitters like Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds’s All-American Boys, and Nic Stone’s Dear Martin."—School Library Journal, starred review
  
Bunny and Nasir have been best friends forever, but when Bunny accepts an athletic scholarship across town, Nasir feels betrayed. While Bunny tries to fit in with his new, privileged peers, Nasir spends more time with his cousin, Wallace, who is being evicted. Nasir can't help but wonder why the neighborhood is falling over itself to help Bunny when Wallace is in trouble.

When Wallace makes a bet against Bunny, Nasir is faced with an impossible decision—maybe a dangerous one.

Told from alternating perspectives, After the Shot Drops is a heart-pounding story about the responsibilities of great talent and the importance of compassion.