Hooper

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.

• Immigrant Experience: Adam Reed is a Polish orphan who sees basketball as his passport to a new life and a chance to overcome a difficult past.
• AAU Basketball: Tapped to play for one of the best select teams in the state, Adam thinks his future is set—but the biggest challenges lie off the court.
• Unlikely Friendships: After a lifetime of struggle, Adam has finally started to form bonds, but an incident with the police threatens to break them all apart.
• Dealing with Anger: A powerful story about an athlete battling prejudice in his new home and the impossible choice between the family he loves and the game that gave him everything.