Common Sense Media Review
By JK Sooja
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Basketball action and police brutality mix in uneven story.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 10+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Read
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In SHOT CLOCK, Tony has always dreamed of becoming an important basketball player, if not a star. But when he doesn't make the team, he must decide if being "the stat man" (tracking players' statistics for the team) will be enough. To make matters worse, one of his friends, a local basketball hero, is gunned down by a police officer, and now he feels like if they have no problem killing a local star, they will have no problem killing any of them. Will Tony be able to focus and help his team?
Is It Any Good?
Exciting basketball and police brutality are strong themes in this unevenly written sports story. On the one hand, all of the basketball action in Shot Clock is phenomenal, detailed, and incredibly vivid. There are numerous game situations, plays, strategies, hits and misses, victories and losses. On the other hand, however, the general narration, how time passes, and the overall flow of the writing is a little messy. Relationships and locations aren't described well or often at all. There's a lot of dialogue, and sometimes it can be hard to follow from scene to scene. However, the story is strong, the messages are positive, powerful, and important, and the main character is unique in that he isn't the star basketball player but still manages to be the star of the team.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about violence in middle grade novels. In Shot Clock, why do you think the police shooting wasn't described as it happened?
If this story happened in your own community, how would you feel?
Do you think this is a happy or sad story? Why?
Book Details
- Authors :
- Genre : Sports
- Topics : Activism , School ( Middle School )
- Character Strengths : Integrity , Perseverance , Teamwork
- Book type : Fiction
- Publisher : Katherine Tegen Books
- Publication date : September 22, 2022
- Publisher's recommended age(s) : 8 - 12
- Number of pages : 304
- Available on : Nook, Audiobook (unabridged), Hardback, Apple Books, Kindle
- Last updated : September 29, 2025
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