Myers, Walter Dean. (1998). Slam. New York: Scholastic. 266 pp.

Grade Range: 6-12

Genre: contemporary fiction

Summary & Critique

High school student Greg Harris, also known as Slam, struggles with family, culture, and talent. Slam is a great basketball player, and basketball is his top priority; however, he has difficulty being a team player and is searching for his place in school and in his family. He has transferred from Carver, a primarily black, low socio-economic, and neighborhood school, to Latimer, a white, upper socio-economic, and magnet high school. As basketball season approaches, Slam thinks his life will improve. However between failing math and fighting with his coach, Slam cannot seem to keep his game together on or off the court. On the court, he grapples with the coach, a superstar attitude, teammate issues, and more. Off the court, he is trying to cope with a dying grandmother, his best friend possibly dealing drugs, a love interest, and an alcoholic father. With the help of family, friends, and an assistant coach, Slam begins to get the big picture.

Because Walter Dean Myers does an outstanding job of creating characters with whom most adolescents could connect, Slam is an excellent novel for adolescents. The vivid and flowing language pushes readers quickly through the text. The dialogue and events in the novel will allow for discussion over a variety of topics and themes which surround most adolescents'daily routines.

Awards

Coretta Scott King Author Award for 1997

Themes,/Topics

Families

Friends and Enemies

Race, Ethnicity, and Culture

Challenges and Triumphs

Love, Sex, and Romance

Sports

Author/Illustrator Information

Although Walter Dean Myers was born in West Virginia, he was raised in Harlem, New York by foster parents. He had a speech impediment and feared reading other people's work out loud, so he began writing his own stories and poems to present to his fifth grade class. Myers continued writing while holding an assortment of jobs after dropping out of high school. Currently, Myers and his family reside in Jersey City where he volunteers at schools.

For more information on Walter Dean Myers:

http://www.eduplace.com/kids/hmr/mtai/wdmyers.html Biographical and bibliographical information

http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/~kvander/myers.html Information about his life, works, awards, films, and resources about him and his works

http://www.teenreads.com/authors/au-myers-walterdean.asp: An article and interview in which he specifically discuss his memoir"Bad Boy"

http://falcon.jmu.edu/~ramseyil/myers.htm Links to resources about Myers

Media Connections

Movies

Hoop Dreams (1994) A documentary about two inner-city African-American teenagers who are extremely talented on the basketball court and desire to play for the NBA.

Remember the Titans (2000) African-American and Caucasian students in a recently integrated Virginia high school compete for starting positions on the football team.

The Jackie Robinson Story (1950) Jackie Robinson starred in this biographical film depicting his experiences as a college athlete as well as the first African-American baseball player to play on a professional team.

School Ties (1992) Students at a prep school with a WASP student body harass a new student and star football player after learning he is Jewish.

Rudy (1993) A determined and persistent college student strives to become a member of the Notre Dame Fighting Irish football team, despite the overwhelming odds against him.

Music

"With My Own Two Hands." Performed by Ben Harper. Diamonds On the Inside. Virgin, 2003. A man believes he can change the world using his hands.

"Drugs Don't Work" and "I'll Rise." Performed by Ben Harper. Live from Mars. Virgin, 2001. Songs about drugs and survival."I'll Rise" is based on a piece by Maya Angelou.

Art

Online Resources

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/myers.html In addition to suggestions for approaching the novel in English class, this page has terrific interdisciplinary suggestions.

http://teacher.scholastic.com/reading/litconnections/awardwinningbooks03/csking/ This page has author biographical information and author interview

http://www.cfw.tufts.edu/ages.asp?ageid=4&topicid=41 Statistics, web links, and more on teenagers and drug and alcohol usage.

http://www.a1b2c3.com/drugs/gen005.htm

Statistics about teenagers and drug use

http://www.hoophall.com/history/history.htm Information about basketball and the history of basketball

http://www.geocities.com/basketballpoems/ Poetry about basketball

Related Texts

Wolff, Virginia. (1993). Make Lemonade. New York: Holt, 200pp. Although her family is poor, fourteen-year old LaVaughn is desperate to attend college. She baby-sits to save money for college, and she develops motherly love for the children.

Hinton, S.E. (1967). The Outsiders. New York: Viking Press, 188pp. After witnessing his best friend kill a wealthy teenager, Ponyboy Curtis, a teenager from the wrong side of the tracks, learns the true meanings of family, friendship, and bravery.

Bragg, Rick. (1997). All Over But the Shoutin'. New York: Pantheon, 329pp. In this autobiography of Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, he describes his life in a poverty-stricken Alabama town with his alcoholic father and selfless mother.

Bennett, James. (1995). The Squared Circle. New York: Scholastic. 247pp. A college basketball player discovers the corrupt and dishonest world of college athletics.

Dickens, Charles. (2001). Great Expectations. New York: Dover, 380pp. Pip, an orphan, matures physically and emotionally after meeting a convict and a rich widow.

Teaching Ideas

(1) "Character Conversation" Students should choose a character from Slam and a character from another novel and then write a transcript of a conversation these two characters would have.

[Summarized/adapted from "What's a nice character like you doing in an assignment like this?" by Brian Munson in Classroom Notes Plus. Urbana, IL: National Council of Teachers of English. January 1991, p. 8.

() "A Novel Soundtrack" Students are given or asked to choose scenes from the novel, to pair the scenes with music fitting the characters'reactions in the scene, and then to write an explanation of their choice.

[Summarized/adapted from "Soundtrack for a Text" by James Uhlenkamp on NCTE Web. June 2003.]


(3) "Model the Author" Before Myers writes a novel, he creates an outline and then finds pictures of how he envisions his characters to look. His wife creates a collage from the pictures, to which he refers while writing. Have students create a character collage using the characters from Slam.

(Review written by Katrina McDonald and edited by Jennifer Moore)