First Quarter Outside Reading Book Review

Slam! By Walter Dean Myers. Scholastic Incorporated 1996 Genre: Fiction

Slam! is a book that teaches a lesson. It portrays a teenage boy having trouble in school but not on the basketball court. He is known for being able to slam-dunk therefore he is given the nickname Slam. This story teaches life lessons for any teenager regarding life inside and outside of school. After transferring out of a public school in Brooklyn, the main character Slam moves to a school known for it’s performing and visual arts curriculum. His grades aren’t very good and he is struggling to keep his temper under control. On top of all that, he is losing connections with his best friend Ice.
“Heart thumping hoop action in a novel that, like most good sport stories is more than just sports.” quoted by Publishers Weekly as the book jacket reads.
This sports book is different than any other sports book I have read. It isn’t about some huge fantasy of a kid becoming great, but rather a story a high school kid who is good on the court but struggling in school. It is down to earth and not over the top like other sporting books where kids excel in every aspect of their life and have one minor blip in the road. This book is something anyone can experience. Many high school athletes experience things like friend and grade trouble just like in this book.
“Basketball is my thing. I can hoop. Case closed. I’m six four and I got the moves, the eye and the heart”(1)
This is a great piece of writing. Plain and simple I enjoyed reading it. There were no dull moments and it always kept me thinking. Being and athlete I feel like I can connect to Slam on a personal level. We both love our sports. I have the same passion he has but for football. Football is my sport as basketball is his. While reading the book I could connect with Slams feeling before a big game or after a tough loss. I also felt that I find a lot of the same problems in school and with friends. I’m not struggling as much in school but it is very challenging to balance school and sports sometimes. Also having had a falling out with a friend before I understand how he feels when Ice and him are on the outs. Being a teenager is a tough thing sometimes and I feel this book really captures the essence of being a student athlete.

Who Dictates Value?

What is value? Does anyone really know? In everyone’s mind value is different. Some say value is how big the price tag is. Others say it is how much love you have for something. Value is what you choose it to be. You can say you’re $300 iphone is more valuable than a memorable family vacation to your beach house, but others will say the complete opposite. It is truly up to you what you find more valuable.

The feeling, the rush, you get during a football game is indescribable. When your offense is driving down the field and the defense can’t do one thing about it and they know it; that is what you play for. The look of a scared puppy is on their face. They don’t want anything to do with you, they want to go right back on the bus and go back where they came from because they’re scared and they want nothing to do with you.

On defense when you’re sacking the quarterback and leveling the running back in the backfield, you get a rush like no other. You hit the opponent as hard as you can and you get up and you know that back doesn’t want the ball again. He wants do get off the field and stay there safe on the sidelines. He knows every time he touches that ball there will be three or four insane defensive lineman right there waiting to blow him up where he stands.

Playing football is something I love to do. When eleven brothers work together to reach one common goal it really means something when you reach it. It can be as simple as gaining three yards for a touchdown or as big as winning a super bowl, but there is no greater feeling than knowing you did everything you could to succeed.

The music is blaring in my ears; my brothers and I are putting on our armor, getting ready for battle. I am in the zone. My songs are playing, pumping me up for the fight about to come. As I wrap the cords of the headphones around the sleek orange body the lyrics replay in my mind on top of the plays I am thinking about.

My ipod is not just an entertainment device; it is a tool I use to get my adrenaline pumping or to relax after a long day. My various 400 plus songs are all fantastic in their own way. The genres vary from country, rock, and rap. There are artist from today and the past years but I like every song on it. They all have different uses. Some for pure entertainment, others for pre-game rituals, and some relaxing tracks that are just chill and mellow.

There is no comparison in my arsenal of expensive things that can compete with the love I have for my ipod. I can live without a cell phone or a Wii, but if my ipod were taken away I would have trouble getting to sleep at night. That’s not a metaphor either. It is the truth, I use my ipod to fall asleep by listening to country music while I drift off into a deep sleep.

Comparing these two things though is very easy. Nothing can match the feeling I get when I play football, not even blasting my favorite song before a game. There is no comparison to the intensity that is felt while on the football field. It something that you can’t buy in a store no matter how many zeros you add to the price tag.

You can’t find feelings on a shelf in a store; you find them within yourself. I value the feeling I get on the football field more than anything I could ever buy in a store. I love football so much that if I was given an option of millions of dollars or never again, I can truly say it would not make me happy to choose money over the love of a game.

The Beatles said it the best way I could ever put it, “you can’t buy me love.” Plain and simple. You could be the richest person in the world and have very expensive things and still not be happy. This is because price tags don’t dictate value. The only thing that can dictate value is you and your feeling toward something. If you don’t love something it doesn’t have value. I can put a price on my ipod; it would be impossible to for me to put a price on football.

Value has the definition you give it. Some say it is how big the price tag is, and others say its how you feel towards something that tells its value. It is for you to decide. In this day and age, many people work for money and wealth, but sometimes working still can’t get you what you want. You need to get what you want by doing what you love and enjoy. Doing what you want to do and love to do has significant value. Money can only buy you things that society has dictated its value you for. Everyone has different views on what is valuable to them.