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Ball Don't Lie Audiobook
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Publisher Description
Newbery Award-winning and New York Times bestselling author Matt de la Pena's Ball Don't Lie "is a must-read." [The Bulletin]
Sticky is a beat-around-the-head foster kid with nowhere to call home but the street, and an outer shell so tough that no one will take him in. He started out life so far behind the pack that the finish line seems nearly unreachable. He’s a white boy living and playing in a world where he doesn’t seem to belong.
But Sticky can ball. And basketball might just be his ticket out . . . if he can only realize that he doesn’t have to be the person everyone else expects him to be.
Matt de la Peña's breakout urban masterpiece, Ball Don’t Lie takes place where the street and the court meet and where a boy can be anything if he puts his mind to it.
★"[An] inspiring story. Sticky is a true original, and de la Peña has skillfully brought him to life."-School Library Journal, Starred
"Riveting...Teens will be strongly affected by the unforgettable...basketball action; and the questions about race, love, self-worth, and what it means to build a life without advantages."-Booklist
"Stunningly realistic."-VOYA
"Gritty and mesmerizing."-Kirkus Reviews
"I have never before seen blacktop ball depicted so well. In this novel, you will find its flash, its power, and its elegance without chains. This is powerful stuff."-Antawn Jamison, forward for the Los Angeles Clippers
"Truly authentic in its examination of both the game I love and the invariable missteps toward manhood. You cannot fail to be moved by the eloquence and truth of this story."-Rick Fox, former forward for the Los Angeles Lakers
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
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“Narrator Dion Graham gets a vocal workout…[as] he switches from the driving momentum and intensity of a fast and furious basketball game to two teenage girls chatting in a mall food court. Another character has a pronounced stutter. And Graham’s narration is particularly effective with the repetitions in the text as Sticky’s obsessive tendencies compel him to repeat simple actions again and again until they feel right. There’s plenty of difficult subject matter here, and Ball Don’t Lie may not be an easy listen, but Graham gives his all to the audio production.”
— AudioFile
Quotes
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★"[An] inspiring story. Sticky is a true original, and de la Peña has skillfully brought him to life.
— School Library Journal, Starred -
Riveting...Teens will be strongly affected by the unforgettable, distinctly male voice; the thrilling, unusually detailed basketball action; and the questions about race, love, self-worth, and what it means to build a life without advantages.
— Booklist -
Stunningly realistic, this book will hook older readers, especially urban teen males.
— VOYA -
"The characters live and breath...This is a must-read.
— The Bulletin -
De la Peña does an excellent job of combining the streets with the sport. Gritty and mesmerizing.
— Kirkus Reviews -
I have never before seen blacktop ball depicted so well. In this novel, you will find its flash, its power, and its elegance without chains. This is powerful stuff.
— Antawn Jamison, forward for the Los Angeles Clippers -
From the very first sentence, this book grabbed me and didn't let go. The deeper I got into it, the more I felt like Sticky's story was my story. His heart, his handle, the guys in the gym, his potential pitfalls, his dreams. All of it. In a weird sense, this is my life.
— Grayson Boucher ("The Professor") of tha AND 1 Mix Tape Tour -
Truly authentic in its examination of both the game I love and the invariable missteps toward manhood. You cannot fail to be moved by the eloquence and truth of this story.
— Rick Fox, former forward for the Los Angeles Lakers -
An ALA Best Book for Young Adults
-
An ALA Quick Pick for Reluctant Readers
-
“The rhythm of dribble, jump shot and dunk punctuates the narrative, resulting in a staccato effect that mimics a fast-paced hoops game…Basketball has an urban fan base, and de la Peña does an excellent job of combining the streets with the sport. Gritty and mesmerizing.”
— Kirkus Reviews -
“The prose moves with the rhythm of a bouncing basketball and those who don’t mind mixing their sports stories with some true grit may find themselves hypnotized by Sticky’s grim saga.”
— Publishers Weekly -
“This first novel has a unique narrative voice that mixes street lingo, basketball jargon, and trash talk to tell Sticky’s sorry saga from a variety of viewpoints…Sticky is a true original, and de la Peña has skillfully brought him to life.”
— School Library Journal
Awards
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An ALA Best Books for Young Adults Selection
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An ALA Top Book for Reluctant Readers
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About Matt de la Peña
Matt de la Peña is the author of several acclaimed young-adult novels and one picture book, A Nation’s Hope. His debut novel, Ball Don’t Lie, was an ALA-YALSA Best Book for Young Adults and an ALA-YALSA Quick Pick and was made into a major motion picture. His second novel, Mexican WhiteBoy, was an ALA-YALSA Top Ten Best Book for Young Adults, a 2009 Notable Book for a Global Society, a Junior Library Guild Selection, and a selction for the 2008 Blue Ribbon List of the Bulletin for the Center of Children’s Literature. He received his MFA degree in creative writing from San Diego State University and his BA from the University of the Pacific. He teaches creative writing.
About Dion Graham
Dion Graham is an award-winning narrator named a “Golden Voice” by AudioFile magazine. He has been a recipient of the prestigious Audie Award numerous times, as well as Earphones Awards, the Publishers Weekly Listen Up Awards, IBPA Ben Franklin Awards, and the ALA Odyssey Award. He was nominated in 2015 for a Voice Arts Award for Outstanding Narration. He is also a critically acclaimed actor who has performed on Broadway, off Broadway, internationally, in films, and in several hit television series. He is a graduate of Rutgers University’s Mason Gross School of the Arts, with an MFA degree in acting.