Name: Jeni Enjaian's review of After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay
Item: After the Shot Drops
Rating: 4
Author: Jeni Enjaian

Randy Ribay

A powerful novel about friendship, basketball, and one teen’s mission to create a better life for his family. Written in the tradition of Jason Reynolds, Matt de la Peña, and Walter Dean Myers, After the Shot Drops now has three starred reviews! * “Belongs on the shelf alongside contemporary heavy-hitters like Angie Thomas’s The Hate U Give, Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds’s All-American Boys, and Nic Stone’s Dear Martin."—School Library Journal, starred review Bunny and Nasir have been best friends forever, but when Bunny accepts an athletic scholarship across town, Nasir feels betrayed. While Bunny tries to fit in with his new, privileged peers, Nasir spends more time with his cousin, Wallace, who is being evicted. Nasir can’t help but wonder why the neighborhood is falling over itself to help Bunny when Wallace is in trouble. When Wallace makes a bet against Bunny, Nasir is faced with an impossible decision—maybe a dangerous one. Told from alternating perspectives, After the Shot Drops is a heart-pounding story about the responsibilities of great talent and the importance of compassion.

After the Shot Drops

Jeni Enjaian

laura

*I got this book for review from Net galley*

I really enjoyed this book. I loved how this book was told from two boys POV and how it really focused on their friendship and how it changed over the course of the novel. It was such a impactful novel and it was super hard to put down. I thought the racial elements in this book was super well done and it was handled so well. I loved how sports was used to increase tension in this novel. I was equally invested in both POVS and loved the cast of characters that populated this world. I was super impressed by this novel as well! I will def.check more stuff by this author in the future!

I found this book thought provoking. Ribay created an intricate, believable dynamic between Nasir and Bunny and between Nasir and Wallace. Ribay dealt with the real life issues that faced these boys without sensationalizing them. I will admit that a handful of times my heart crept up in my throat as I worried about things that may happen to one of the characters, an event that would have taken it down a much more sensational route. 
While Ribay created believable characters with Nasir and Bunny, only Wallace and Keyona of the secondary characters got enough attention to flesh them out beyond cardboard cut outs. This alone keeps me from rating this book five stars.

Jeni Enjaian &
After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

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Jeni Enjaian &After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay

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Jeni Enjaian &
After the Shot Drops by Randy Ribay