by Matt Christopher (1998)
CENTER COURT STING Trash talking leads to trouble on the basketball court.... Forward Daren McCall is quick with an insult, quick to take offense, and quick to blame anyone but himself for his troubles. So when center Lou Bettman accuses him first of bad-mouthing him, then of vandalism, Daren turns the tables and insists that Lou is out to get him. The team splits into two camps, those who believe in Daren's innocence and those who take Lou's side. The fight heats up when Daren falls victim to an outrageous act. But did Lou retaliate, as Daren suspects, or is someone else trying to teach Daren a lesson?
Matt Christopher, [Robert Hirschfeld
Angry and unhappy because he is now in a wheelchair and apparently no longer able to play basketball, twelve-year-old Seth is amazed to discover wheelchair basketball and finds that his life is not over after all.
Edward Packard
Readers are part of the basketball squad on a big school team that won't accept anything less than the state championship, and can finish the story.
Elaine Marie Alphin
Someone murdered Brian's girfriend, Amanda. The police think it was her father. Brian isn’t so sure. But everyone he knows is telling him to move on, get over it, focus on the present. Focus on basketball. Focus on hitting the perfect shot. Brian hopes that the system will work for Amanda and her father. An innocent man couldn’t be wrongly convicted, could he? But then Brian does a school project on Leo Frank, a Jewish man lynched decades ago for the murder of a teenage girl – a murder he didn’t commit. Worse still, Brian’s teammate Julius gets arrested for nothing more than being a black kid in the wrong place at the wrong time. Brian can’t deny any longer that the system is flawed. As Amanda’s father goes on trial, Brian admits to himself that he knows something that could break the case. But if he comes forward, will the real killer try for another perfect show – this time against Brian?
Eric Howling
Orlando really wants to be a basketball star, but the other boys are taller and better than he his, but when he gets a temporary place on the team he finds his niche in an unexpected position.