For Wes the basketball court had always been his safe place, the place he felt he could control and the place he could connect with his dad. That all has changed now. There’s a new kid on the team, who not only plays like the star, but seems to have the ego to go with it. Then there is his dad, a Navy Seal, who has come home from war with both physical and emotional injuries, and not at all like the dad he was when he left.

In Mike Lupica’s novel, No Slam Dunk, he brings to light how the lessons learned from sports can be applied to life. As Wes finds ways to work things out with his new team mate, he also recognizes he needs to work things out with his dad and in turn his dad follows Wes’s example and works through his own problems. No Slam Dunk demonstrates that life isn’t always easy and doesn’t always go as planned, but it is worth working out so it goes a little more smoothly. Lupica’s novels, that tie in sports with real life problems, fill a void in middle grade novels that appeals to boys but deals with emotional problems. That being said, working through problems is a life lesson that everyone needs and this book will surely appeal to many.

Review of an Uncorrected Proof

This book was sent to Compass Book Ratings for review by Penguin

Content Analysis:

Profanity/Language:  2 mild obscenities.

Violence/Gore:  Account given of soldiers getting ambushed and one person dying. 

Sex/Nudity:  None

Mature Subject Matter:

PTSD, war, parental separation.

Alcohol / Drug Use:

Mentions of character with a drinking problem; mentions of character being drunk.