Sunday Money

A teenager navigating a difficult homelife finds solace in basketball in this gritty debut, set in 1970s Brooklyn. Claire is the youngest of four and the only daughter in her Irish Catholic family reared by an alcohol-dependent mother and emotionally withdrawn father. From an early age, her brother John coaches her in basketball, teaching her how to play and how to employ her skill beyond the blacktop. Claire uses basketball to escape the trauma she experiences at home, such as her brother Bobby’s physical abuse and her mother’s drinking (“I start thinking about whether it’s a drinking night or not. My mother is not an everyday drunk.”) Newly passed Title IX provides hope for Claire’s future as a collegiate student-athlete, and this goal steers her away from following in her mother’s footsteps. Via period-typical prose—Bobby is often referred to as “crazy” or “mental”—Hill depicts a working-class family dealing with substance use and mental illness. While Claire’s choppy stream-of-consciousness narration often evokes detachment, the text is bolstered by Hill’s descriptions of the ways in which sports help Claire maintain and repair bonds, break destructive patterns, and build boundaries. Ages 13–up. Agent: Jennifer Unter, Unter Agency. (May)