Poems should be spoken aloud, but not every poem demands it. Arnold Adoff’s do so in this pace-setting, rhythm-changing, gravity-defying collection for all those who love basketball, or who love to see how words behave in the hands of a skilled poet. They can become the basket. They can become the ball. They can become the different players, charging, breathless, energized, defeated. The shapes and designs of Adoff’s poems can be intimidating with their odd and shifting spacing. It is in the vocalizing, and the deliberate attention this requires, that they become less mysterious. The spacings are part of the rhythm and suggest whatever action or emotion is being conveyed. Michael Weaver has created full-page gouache illustrations to accompany a number of the poems. Taking his lead from the poems, he shows both male and female players hard at the game. (Ages 11-15)

In city schoolyards and suburban driveways, in the early morning and late at night, on the court and in their dreams, kids of every age, race, and ability are taking it to the hoop. In twenty-eight poems that explore the many faces of the game, celebrated poet Arnold Adoff teams up with multifaceted newcomer Michael Weaver to create a bold new vision of a sport for everyone who lives for the feel of that pebble rubber ball.