Description: From award-winning YA author Paul Volponi comes the true story of his unforgettable summer spent proving himself as a New York City streetballer, only to discover that he had gained skills that would enrich his life off the court, as well.
Brief description: Paul Volponi is a bestselling author, journalist, and educator. His twelve novels for young adults have received a dozen American Library Association honors and his novel Black and White was a winner of the International Reading Association Children's Book Award. Volponi is also the author of multiple nonfiction books for young adults, including The Great G.O.A.T. Debate: The Best of the Best in Everything from Sports to Science; SpongeBob SquarePants: The Unauthorized Fun-ography; and Famous First Impressions: The Power of Perfect Opening Lines. Volponi resides in New York City.
Review Quotes:
". . . Volponi conveys a passion for basketball while sharing a bittersweet reminiscence of a pivotal summer. The on-court action is tendered with an almost awe-like respect for the game, the players, and the relentlessly fierce way they play. Sprinkled with quotes from basketball greats as well as reflective life lessons the author learned from playing, this informative memoir reveals the unrelenting world of streetball and the talented athletes who rule it." --Publishers Weekly
"[Streetball is Life] is filled with cinematic details and colorful characters, which bring the streetball subculture to life. . . . An entertaining title that will likely be very popular with basketball fans and will appeal to readers who enjoy realistic fiction." --School Library Journal "Paul Volponi's latest, Streetball is Life, is a fitting heir to his signature work Black and White. The rhythm of the city streets envelops the reader with the grittiness of a hard-fought game of hoops that is careening toward an unknown finish. Volponi's coming-of-age story will attract those just beginning to make their mark on the world as well as those further along in practicing what they learned through early competition. Streetball is Life is a slam dunk." --Lenny Shulman, Emmy Award-winning sportswriter and author of Justify: 111 Days to Triple Crown Glory "Volponi's microcosm of American culture is a page turner that entertains and informs." --Ed McNamara, Newsday "Streetball is Life is written the way Volponi's ballers hit that cracked cement: hard and true." --Paul Griffin, author of The Orange Houses, Stay with Me and Burning Blue