Triple Threat

Lorraine Douglas is the youth services co-ordinator at the Winnipeg
Public Library.

Matt Eagletail is an avid basketball player whose mother, a First
Nations woman, recently married a white man with five daughters. In this
sequel to the earlier basketball novel Free Throw, Matt continues to
learn how to get along with his new family in Alberta. He has invited
his cyberfriend, John Salton, to visit for the summer.

John, who is nicknamed “Free Throw,” uses a wheelchair because of a
spinal injury. He begins his summer visit by agreeing to coach Matt’s
Bobcat team in the summer basketball league. Matt’s basketball rival,
John Beal, turns up to play on a team called the Mean Machine. John Beal
is a cruel taunter and his team uses every dirty trick in the book,
including having a spy on Matt’s team.

This thoughtful and action-packed novel will appeal to both boys and
girls who like basketball. (The Bobcat team includes two girls, one of
whom unmasks the spy on the Mean Machine team.) The book could also be
used in classrooms to raise awareness of some of the mobility issues
that people in wheelchairs face. Matt finds out how difficult the world
can be when he is injured, a discovery that gives him a fresh
perspective on and appreciation of his own abilities and John’s
disabilities. Recommended.