Bounce Back

August 15, 2018
Zayd's basketball obsession shares the spotlight with family developments in this third book in the Zayd Saleem, Chasing the Dream series. Pakistani-American Zayd is now starting point guard on the gold team he worked hard to become a part of. They're in a good position to make the championship, but Zayd faces a setback when his ankle is injured during basketball practice and he ends up on crutches. He is on the bench for several weeks, and, aside from missing playing, he worries that he won't make it back in time to help them win. With some encouragement from Baba and Coach, Zayd learns how to conquer his self-pity and jealousy and to lead from the bench. Meanwhile, the wedding festivities for his uncle, Jamal Mamoo, are in full swing, from the pre-mehndi (where Zayd also takes on leadership and finds that choreographing a dance is akin to coaching a basketball team) to the mehndi to the wedding itself. Zayd is scared when his grandfather suffers from acute health issues, but he and his sister, Zara, try to help Nana Abu stay active, per doctor's orders. Readers will enjoy watching Zayd grow in his game, his maturity, and his changing family life even if this volume is a bit heavy on the latter. A solid read about being your best self on and off the court, with an appealing Muslim protagonist. (Fiction. 7-11)

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September 1, 2018
Grades 2-5 In his third adventure (after On Point, 2018), Zayd is just weeks from his basketball team making it to playoffs and his uncle Jamal's wedding, when he faces a serious setback: he injures his ankle during practice. At first he's upset?what's the point of going to practice if he can't be out on the court playing? But he slowly begins to learn that there are different ways to be a team player, such as when he helps his sister by simplifying the choreography for a Punjabi dance number to some of Jamal's favorite songs. When he finally gets back on the court, his performance is reserved because he is worried about further damage to his ankle, and he ends up on the sidelines again. But even that ends well: Zayd takes to heart a message from his grandpa to focus on what he can do and not on what he cannot do. Zayd, a welcome character for young readers, learns that one can be a team player even when facing personal challenges.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)

January 1, 2019
In these chapter books, pint-sized fourth grader Zayd Saleem chases his dream of playing basketball: making the team (Forward), winning a game (Point), and coping after an injury (Back). In upbeat, humorous, and engaging first-person narration, Zayd confronts challenges on the court and with his friends and Pakistani American family. Well-developed secondary characters, rich cultural content, and occasional black-and-white drawings round out the series.

(Copyright 2019 by The Horn Book, Incorporated, Boston. All rights reserved.)