The book “Hoop Dreams” by Ben Joravsky is a non-fiction sports novel that was based off of the award winning film. Hoop Dreams explains the lives of Arthur Agee and William Gates. Arthur and William are two teenage African American teenagers chasing the basketball dream. Arthur was a 5’6 125 pound guard who was discovered by “Big Earl” who was a scout for St. Josephs, a school known for their successful basketball program. He was found by Big Earl playing basketball in the playgrounds of chicago, playing against kids at least 3 years older than him and he was still the best out there. Arthur grew up in a rough neighborhood with parents who were addicted to cocaine (his father more so than his mother) who struggled to pay bills. Arthur’s family certainly would not be able to pay for a school like St. Josephs, but Big Earl told them that Arthur could attend without paying tuition if he played basketball there. He attended St, Josephs and that is where he met William. William was also 14 when he was recruited to go to St. Joseph. He and Arthur both had to wake up around 5:30 every morning so they could get on the subway to make it to school in time. It took William about two hours to commute to schools everyday. William was brought up to varsity his freshman year at St. Josephs, sadly Arthur was not. This disappointed Arthur because then he knew he wouldn't be able to play against people who were better than him, he wouldn't improve. William felt bad about making the team over Arthur but wasn't going to let that stop him from chasing his dream. Arthur and William both shined at St, Josephs but William more than Arthur, therefore all the attention was on the William and he was the best player at St, Joes with all the college scouts looking at him and not Arthur. Arthur ended up leaving St, Josephs to attend Marshall the local public school, but him not being the star at St,Josephs was not the only reason he left. Arthur was poorly behaved and was constantly getting into trouble, along with that, his grades were terrible. William scored a 18 on his SAT so there was no way he could play in his freshman year of college, he also ripped cartilage in his knee and many questioned whether he could play again. William narrowed his choices and decided to attend Marquette University. Arthur decided to attend a junior college in Flatwater Mississippi called Mineral Area. I enjoyed the book Hoop Dreams at some points of the book but at others, I found it to be a little boring. I felt that it was just explaining what was going on in there lives and at some points i felt it was a little uneventful. I would recommend this book to someone who enjoys basketball or just sports in general. What someone should take away from reading this review is that Hoop Dreams is an interesting but seems like they made it a little too long, and to think if they are commited to read this book. This was by far my favorite book that I have read in this class to date. The book takes you through the journey of a few different high schoolers. The first one would be a kid named William. The reader follows him through the path of freshman with a bundle of potential, to the best player in the city in his senior year. He demonstrates courage, persistence, courage, and handles adversity as well as anyone, fighting through injury. It is the main reason why he ends up getting a division one scholarship to a high major school, as he goes on to attend Marquette University. The other character that the book follows is an immature, class clown named Arthur Agee. Their paths start out in a similar way, as the both head off to St Josephs prep, a private school away from the streets and playgrounds of Chicago that both William and Arthur had become so accustomed to. However, as time passes, their journeys become far different. William, continues to thrive on the court and manages to work through his difficult schoolwork. Arthur and hi family take a turn for the worse, to the point where Arthur can no longer be a part of the prestigious school of St. Joseph's. He is left to try and carve out a path for himself, as he has the same goal of William, of going as far as he can with basketball. I loved this book, and think that Joravsky did a fantastic job with this book. This is definitely on my favorite all time books. He takes you through the true stories of these gifted, yet troubled city kids just looking to improve life for themselves and their respective families. You see the amount of energy that goes into every aspect of their life in order to try and make it in basketball. Joravsky did a fantastic job, showing the two journeys. He does a fantastic job organizing each of the two stories together. While they may seem like two separate pieces, he does a fantastic job connecting them together, in order to make a very fluid and entertaining read. I would recommend this book to anyone in a heartbeat. If you are looking for an inspiring piece, taking you along the roller coaster of two kids trying to make a life out of a bad situation, this book is for you. It is inspirational, and is full of suspense. If you want to see four years of basketball excitement condensed into a few hundred pages, this book is for you; I guarantee you won't be disappointed.
