This Was Always About Basketball by Craig Leener

This Was Always About Basketball by Craig Leener is the third and final installment in the Zeke Archer Basketball Trilogy.  And if you are like me and highly enjoyed the adventures of the first two books, you will love this one just as much.   Leener's newest novel takes us back into the lives of Ezekiel Archer and Sherman "Lawrence" Tuckerman.  As Zeke is preparing to leave L.A. and head to Lawrence, Kansas to attend the University of Kansas, his life takes a sudden and unexpected turn.  The truck he is supposed to be driving to school the next day is in pieces and his best friend is involved.  His dad is in the VA hospital and not doing well.  And maybe worst of all, his arch nemesis, Brock seems to have altered the history of basketball.  

 With Lawrence's help (who is partially responsible for basketball's altered history), Zeke must once again dive into the world of the 7th Dimension and figure out how to fix the game he loves.  Along their journey through time and space, Zeke will not only try and save basketball, but also figure out a future that seems to always be up in the air.  With his best friend by his side, Zeke carves out a path for his life that clearly points to a future that will continue to preserve this game that has meant so much to him.

 Leener has once again given us a fun and exciting story that dives into the history of basketball and takes us back to that moment when Dr. James Naismith first established his 13 original rules of the game.  If you are basketball fan then this book, and this trilogy, is for you!

 

From Amazon: 

In this thrilling conclusion to the bestselling trilogy, teen hoops star Zeke Archer is ready to fulfill a lifelong dream: running point for the best college basketball team in the country! But on what should be the best day of his life, things take a horrible turn. Zeke’s truck has been completely dismantled, leaving him with no way to drive to a university 1,600 miles away. His on-again, off-again girlfriend has written him a letter that can only be heart-crushing. And Zeke’s father is in critical condition, hanging on by thread in the VA hospital . . .But to make matters absolutely worse, Zeke’s nemesis and archrival Brock Decker is suddenly rich and famous--and appears responsible for a most insidious plan to alter the future of basketball’s history. With barely any time to fix things, Zeke, together with his best friend Lawrence, will somehow have to break interdimensional barriers of time and space to return to the very spot where the game he loves was invented, all in an attempt to undo everything. But if the clock runs out, Zeke Archer and everything he loves will be gone!

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas is the prequel to her best-selling debut, The Hate U Give.  This story takes us back and tells the story of Maverick Carter, Starr's dad, and a pillar in the Garden Heights' community.  In the first book, we got a glimpse at the man he is.  But in Concrete Rose, we get the chance to see how he got there.  From the struggles of trying to live up to his dad's reputation to helping out a mom who is doing the best she can, Maverick has to learn what it takes to take care of those he loves.  And when he suddenly finds out he is a father and then quickly has another on the way, he must decide what path he must take to create a future for himself and his family.  This is such a wonderfully told story about how we don't have to succumb to the environment we are surrounded by.  How we can find a way to thrive when the world around us expects us to fall.  It shows us how we can be that rose that grows out of the concrete. 

 

From Amazon:

International phenomenon Angie Thomas revisits Garden Heights seventeen years before the events of The Hate U Give in this searing and poignant exploration of Black boyhood and manhood.

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.

Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father.

Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

When King Lord blood runs through your veins, though, you can't just walk away. Loyalty, revenge, and responsibility threaten to tear Mav apart, especially after the brutal murder of a loved one. He’ll have to figure out for himself what it really means to be a man.