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A powerful novel about friendship, basketball, and one teen's mission to create a better life for his family in the tradition of Jason Reynolds, Matt de la Pena, and Walter Dean Myers. Bunny and Nasir have been best friends forever, but when Bunny accepts an athletic scholarship across town, Nasir feels betrayed. While Bunny tries to fit in with his new, privileged peers, Nasir spends more time with his cousin, Wallace, who is being evicted. Nasir can't help but wonder why the neighborhood is falling over itself to help Bunny when Wallace is in trouble. When Wallace makes a bet against Bunny, Nasir is faced with an impossible decision—maybe a dangerous one. Told from alternating perspectives, After the Shot Drops is a heart-pounding story about the responsibilities of great talent and the importance of compassion.
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I received a copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Bunny and Nasir used to be the best of friends. When Bunny takes a scholarship to play basketball at a private school across town though, Nasir feels betrayed and left behind. Bunny does his best to fit in with the students at his new school, but the differences between the lives they live are glaring reminders that he doesn’t belong. Because Bunny has been spending more time with his classmates and teammates, Nasir fings himself hanging out with his troubled cousin Wallace. Nasir eventually finds himself right in the middle of his cousin’s bad decisions when he starts making bets against Bunny’s team all leading up to Nasir having to navigate tough decisions about loyalty and friendship. Can friendships overcome all the hardships that life places on it, and more importantly, how can someone make the impossible decision that will in the end let someone down?
Ribay has written a very timely novel with After the Shot Drops. Told from alternating perspectives of Bunny and Nasir, readers will really get to see what each charatacter is thinking and feeling about all of the new changes he is facing. Three dimensional characters, and realistic situations all help to make this novel readable, intense, and thought provoking. Both Bunny and Nasir are forced to make tough decisions that can forever affect the path that they are on. Readers will watch from the outside as each teen wrestles with their choices, and learns from his mistakes. This novel touches on friendship, race issues, and the harsh realities that many teens face on a day to day basis. I was happy to see that even though this story switches from narrator to narrator, it doesn’t distract from the story itself. I highly recommend this book for all library collections.
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