This Way Home by Wes Moore (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: This Way Home by Wes Moore Elizabeth Bush Moore, Wes This Way Home; by Wes Moore with Shawn Goodman. Delacorte, 2015 [256p] Library ed. ISBN 978-0-375-99019-9 $20.99 Trade ed. ISBN 978-0-385-74169-9 $17.99 E-book ed. ISBN 978-0-375-98671-0 $10.99 Reviewed from galleys R Gr. 7-10 Elijah Thomas and his pals Michael and Dylan are determined to enjoy one last hurrah of basketball glory before senior year and college recruiters inevitably send them down different paths. For the moment, their concentration is on the three-on-three street ball championship held in a run-down but popular court on the divide between their own stable neighborhood and the seedier side of town. Michael has miraculously come up with a “sponsor” who supplies them with shoes and uniforms worthy of champs, but when he reluctantly admits there’s a gang connection to this windfall, the boys decide to play and win in their own old ratty gear, thereby incurring the wrath of their shadowy patron. Dylan is killed by a bullet to the back, Michael is scared stiff he’ll be next, and Elijah desperately seeks the help of a neighborhood man, an ex-Green Beret for whom he does yard work. Many readers, by process of elimination, will suss out Dylan’s killer and perhaps even the gang’s leader, but that won’t diminish the tense and tragic drama that leads to the revelation. With its focus on African-American basketball talents who are challenged by off-court situation, this is a good call for fans of Kevin Waltman’s D-Bow series (Next, BCCB 3/14, Slump, BCCB 12/14) who are ready for a bit more grit. Copyright © 2015 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois