It isn't how you play the game—it's how you let the game play you. When Nate's team commits a crime, all of his loyalties are tested—and questioned. A bold hardcover debut. Over the hot, Indiana summer, Nate's high school basketball team practices on a local court off a row of fraternities. One day after practice, one of the team members suggests breaking into a frat house and looting its contents. Nate goes along with it—a move he instantly regrets. Soon all of his loyalties are being tested—with his brother, a town outcast who might be blamed for the crime; with his girlfriend, who he tries to confide in; and with his teammates. A phenomenal novel in the tradition of Chris Crutcher, Rich Wallace, and Walter Dean Myers' SLAM.
Author
Kevin Waltman was born in Bedford, Pennsylvania, and spent his teens and twenties in Indiana—time spent mostly around basketball courts and political events. He moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama in 2001 to get his MFA in fiction at The University of Alabama. There, he met his wife, Jessica Kidd. He now lives in Coker, Alabama, with Jessica, their daughter Calla, and their dog Henry. He teaches. He writes. He gardens. He cuts kudzu from their woods. He is the author of four y.a. novels. The first two are Nowhere Fast and Learning the Game. The two most recent—Next and Slump—are the first two parts of a four-part series from Cinco Puntos Press. The third in the series, Pull, will be out in late 2015. You can see more about Kevin, or find teaching guides to some of his work, at kevinwaltman.com..
