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Title: Final Cut by Fred Bowen, Ann Barrow ISBN: 0-613-23227-5 Publisher: Bt Bound Pub. Date: May, 2000 Format: Hardcover Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $12.95

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Average Customer Rating: 5 (1 review)

Rating: 5
Summary: Try to make the final cut on a junior high basketball team
Comment: Ryan Phillips and his friends Zeke, Eli, and Miles spend pretty much every afternoon together football out in the field or ping-pong down in Ryan's basement. But now things are different because the four friends are planning on trying out for the junior high basketball team and making the Sligo's Stallions. That means playing in the school's intramural league and the junior high three-on-three tournament to get ready to impress the coach, not to mention Benny the Brain, who is always keeping stats for the coach. But Ryan is getting worried that he will not make the cut and even more worried how his friends will feel if none of them make "The Final Cut."

I have read several of Fred Bowen's baseball books in the AllStar SportStory series, so this is the first basketball book. Not surprisingly the approach is the same, with Bowen using the real world examples of Michael Jordan and Bill Russell to set up the important lesson at the end of this juvenile story. But as always what sticks out for me in Bowen's stories is how the way to play the game permeates the story. Ryan's main rival is Drew Moyers, who was on the team the previous year, and who is one of the big scorers in the intramural league. But Drew is a gunner, who does not pass the ball, and that is not what wins basketball games. The point is being made by some of the commercials featuring LeBron James, but it is nice to see it being made it books like this as well. Bowen makes a point that if you grab rebounds, pass the ball, steal the ball, take high percentage shots, and hit your free throws, that you are just as important to your team winning the game.

The back of the book includes "The Real Story" about Michael Jordan being cut from his high school basketball team when he was a sophomore. His disappointment at not making the varsity fueled a year long effort to improve his skills, which is the lesson that Bowen wants to underscore (of course, the realist in me has to point out that growing 5 inches was a big help for MJ as well). A lot of kids have probably heard that story, but Bowen adds the story of Bill Russell, who shared time as the last player on his junior high varsity basketball team before going on to be the most winningest player in basketball history. Of course, I shudder to think of how many young readers will have never heard of Bill Russell.