Title: The Hoopstar
Author: Chavon D. White
Publisher: AuthorHouse
ISBN: 978-1-7283-0768-8
Genre: Illustrated Young Adult Book
Pages: 56
Review by: Beth Adams

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Author Chavon D. White has dunked it with her debut book The Hoopstar. White has captured the enthusiasm, exaltation and competitive confidence needed to excel in high school sports to become outstanding and recognized, yet uniquely juxtaposed these emotions against the doubts and fears of not being able to live up to the expectations imposed in college sports. This makes her protagonist, Brylane Langley, stand out as a real and credible person, one capable of becoming a role model for readers of this book.

As the girls basketball team’s MVP, Brylane Langley is poised to receive the ball by her teammates at the end of a game – with only 30 seconds left and being at a 2 point disadvantage. White writes a thrilling play-by-play moment complete with action accompanied by Brylane’s inner thoughts, and once the ball gets swooshed through the hoop, her team wins by one point as the buzzer sounds. Tears of joy almost can be felt by the readers due to this very well scripted part of the book along with the marvelously interleaved illustrations by artist Bev Johnson. Then, White goes on to tell of how Brylane is approached by a college coach saying that he is interested in recruiting her for their team – yes, a dream coming true for this young girl with a passion for basketball and a winning desire.

Here’s the game changer. Brylane tells her friend that she has Dyslexia, and finds it difficult to keep up with her studies, as she relies on help from her parents when studying. If her grades are not up to high standards she may not be eligible for this opportunity. But when the going gets tough, the tough gets going … as Brylane tells her friend many NBA players have Dyslexia and have achieved greatness.

The Hoopstar is a full-court press of good values, confidence and a message to have faith to follow your dreams, no matter what obstacles confront you. This is an excellent book for youngsters to read as they look forward to the challenges in front of them, as good advice is always well received by intelligent people. The Hoopstar will earn its place upon the bookshelf of many family libraries, along with the trophies of the youngsters achieving accolades in both education and organized sports. This is a great book for children from the single-digit years on into their teens.