Hoops by Matt Tavares

It is November 1970 and Judi and her best friend Stace are watching a group of boys play basketball in their driveway. While Stace is enthusiastically cheerleading, Judi is just waiting for a chance to pass the ball. Later, at the stadium, Judi is avidly watching the game, when Stace says ‘someday that’ll be us out there!' she means the official cheerleading team but Jude imagines herself on the court. Five years later the girls are on the senior cheerleading team but, for the first time the Wilkins Regional High School is going to have a girls’ basketball team. Judi joins the team with seven other girls and they start to practise at the nearby elementary school as the boys’ teams have priority in their gym. The girls go from strength to strength in spite of having to provide everything themselves and strong friendships develop but Stace finds it hard to forgive Judi for leaving cheerleading.

There is plenty of basketball action in the clear, modern cartoon images as the players prove themselves worthy of an audience and support from the authorities. There is an interesting summary at the end of the book outlining how in 1970 girls made up only 7% of United States high school athletes. Legislation passed in Congress in 1972 prohibited schools from discriminating based on sex, starting the process so that by 1976 that figure had grown to 29%, Jude and her friends, inspired by real-life 1976 Warsaw High School girls basketball team, were part of that change. Girls’ sport still has a long way to go to reach equality with men but this fast paced, engaging story might inspire others to fight for what they believe in and be their own personal best whether that be basketballer or cheerleader.

Themes: Basketball, Girls' sport, Discrimination, Friendship.

Sue Speck